Dogs Do The Silliest Things
by Hikari M666
Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more.
1. The First Day Of Jou

* * *

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh, and the first line to all my friends who agree with my outlook on trigonometry.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

* * *

Ch. 1: The First Day of Jou

Maths sucked, decided Jou. Who cared about trigo-whatever anyway? It wasn't going to be of any use in the future. He sure wasn't going to be a mathematician, so why couldn't he drop this stupid subject?

"Mr. Jounouchi?"

"Wa?" was his gormless reply. His friend Yugi groaned.

"Would you mind telling us the answer?" Jou jumped back into reality. He had been asked a question. He was in maths. Time to take a guess.

"Uh…sixteen?"

The tall boy in front of him gave a false cough, that undoubtedly concealed a snicker. _Yeah, laugh it up, Kaiba,_ Jou thought bitterly. The teacher looked less than impressed.

"Pay attention, Mr. Jounouchi, or it will be detention. Last warning."

Jou glared at Seto Kaiba's back, as if it was his fault. It didn't help that Kaiba correctly answered the question that Jou had gotten wrong only seconds ago.

Damn pretty-boy Kaiba. Eighteen and already CEO of his own multi-national company. Not to mention the world's best chess player and second-best duellist in the world. And certainly not to mention super-popular with the girls. Well, they found him cute and mysterious, despite his lack of friends and a life in general. One of his stupid fan girls was eyeing him right now. As if Kaiba cared. Jou doubted the guy in front of him would _ever _have a girlfriend. He was too obsessed with himself, and his money. No one in their right mind would want to date that moneybags.

"Mr. Jounouchi?"

Oh, crap. Inattentiveness strikes again. Jou quickly looked at the blackboard to find out what the question was. He saw a diagram.

"Er…a triangle?"

This time Kaiba actually turned around for the sole purpose of rolling his eyes at Jou. Jou clenched his fists and would have liked nothing more than to pummel that blue-eyed jerk into the ground.

The teacher sighed. "Detention after school, Katsuya. I did warn you."

Jou groaned. Detention again! It was all Kaiba's fault. Kinda.

After school detention was not fun. Cleaning the storeroom seldom was. And the maths sensei talking to him the whole time only made it worse.

"What were you thinking about during class, Katsuya? You were certainly very distracted today."

Jou imagined his response. "Well first I was thinkin' about how much I hate maths, then I was thinkin' about how much I wanted to pound Kaiba." Yeah, right. Instead he lied. "I was just, er – thinkin' about lunch." With Jou, this was highly believable. At 4:15, he was free to go, leaving him alone to think about how this whole thing was Kaiba's fault. Damn moneybags.

* * *

It was the middle of the day, and Jou was wandering through an otherwise deserted park. Or at least he thought it was deserted.

"Enjoying yourself, mutt?" a cold voice behind him said. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Mutt. Only a certain blue-eyed jerk called him that. He turned around anyway.

"What're ya doing, following me, Kaiba?" For Kaiba, all 143 pounds and 6 feet 1 inch of him, were indeed standing there, in his usual outfit minus the white trenchcoat.

Kaiba gave a slight, oh very slight smile. "Who said I was following you?"

"Then what were ya doing?"

He walked a little towards Jou, smirking again. "Following you."

Jou blinked, a little confused. Kaiba and his stupid mind games. "What do ya want then, moneybags?"

Kaiba took another step forward. "What do I want, mutt?" Jou nodded, ignoring the name, as usual; he wanted to take a step back but found himself glued to the spot. Kaiba was closer than their usual metre proximity, which was more than slightly disconcerting since they were sworn enemies.

He took yet another step. "You really want to know?" he whispered. There was no need to talk loudly; Jou was so close he could feel Kaiba's breath on his face. Yet for some reason, the urge to pull away had left him completely.

Their eyes met, cobalt blue facing honey brown. Almost close enough to touch. Then Kaiba whispered, "I want you," before his lips met Jou's in a soft, passionate kiss. And Jou didn't pull away.

Then he woke up.

He was sweating profusely, clasping a hand over his mouth to make sure dream-Kaiba hadn't done any lasting damage. When finally satisfied he was safe, he muttered, "What the hell was that?"

* * *

All right, first chapter complete! I know the whole dream thing is overused, but it fits in with SetoxJou so perfectly…please review! You know if you read this far you want to! 


	2. Evening of Seto

Dogs Do The Silliest Things 

Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh, and the first line to all my friends who agree with my outlook on trigonometry.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

* * *

Ch. 2: Evening of Seto

The last thing Seto saw before walking out of the classroom was the mutt being told he had to clean the storeroom. Katsuya Jounouchi couldn't go five minutes without making a fool of himself. It was laughable.

Seto's limousine picked him up as usual outside the school, and drove him in the direction of KaibaCorp.

"Not today. I'll work from home," he informed his driver. It wasn't often that he did this, but the last thing he felt like doing this afternoon was going into his cold, dreary office for six hours. The only real problem with working from home was that his younger brother, Mokuba, tended to interrupt. And Seto hated turning Mokuba down and always ended up getting minimal work done.

Once home, he walked upstairs to his room, laptop in hand. Predictably, Mokuba was sitting on his bed waiting for him.

"I saw the limo outside," he said brightly. "Do you think we could – oh," He spotted the laptop, and his face dropped. "You're working…"

Seto nodded, preparing himself for the Look; Mokuba could widen his eyes and droop his head in such a way that one couldn't help but feel shamefaced, and he always used the Look on his big brother. This time was no exception, and Seto was guilted into two hours of _Medieval Total War_ on his laptop. Eventually he persuaded Mokuba to play on his own on another computer, leaving the eighteen-year-old alone to catch up on his desperately incomplete work.

He looked at the time; already five-thirty and no work done. He really needed to hire an assistant for times like this, but he'd never trusted anyone else enough to handle his appointments or file his paperwork for him and besides, he could take care of himself.

He wondered if Jounouchi had finished his detention. Doubtful. He had probably messed up the storeroom even more as opposed to cleaning it. He never was able to do something without embarrassing himself, and he looked so pathetically like a dog that he well deserved the nickname mutt. His lengthy blonde hair was not unlike that of a golden retriever. Not to mention his overly loyal yet dimwitted personality. A puppy all through.

Seto shook his head. He would never get his work don if he kept getting distracted by his thoughts. He glanced at the clock again. Damn! Five forty-five. Annoyed, he shut down his laptop. If he was able to spend a whole fifteen minutes thinking about _Jounouchi_, of all people, there was no way he could concentrate on important business matters. He would just have to have an extra tiring day tomorrow. Forgetting about dinner, he went straight to bed and read books for several hours until he managed to fall asleep.

* * *

Seto sat in his kitchen. Not eating, not about to eat, nor just having eaten. He was just thinking, about KaibaCorp, Mokuba, school…and for some reason Jounouchi. Why had that mutt crossed his mind again? It was frustrating, if not nonsensical.

Seto suddenly became aware that he was not alone, and he froze. Someone else – and not Mokuba, someone bigger – was in his kitchen, standing almost directly behind him. Slowly, very slowly, he turned around to identify the intruder, only to recognise long blonde hair and honey brown eyes.

"Mutt?" he said, frowning. "But how did you get in – " Jounouchi cut him off with a trademark grin.

"That's not really the point, is it, moneybags?"

Unlike the blonde, Seto didn't ignore nicknames and insults. He wanted to answer sharply, but his tongue didn't seem to be working for him.

"I'm thinkin' the real question is, _why_ did I come here."

Jounouchi was close. Uncomfortably and awkwardly close. But Seto Kaiba didn't ever get uncomfortable or awkward, so he stayed perfectly still.

"And I came here, rich boy, to get somethin' from you that I've bin wanting for quite some time." He came even closer, if that were possible. His face and Seto's were only inches apart. And still Seto's tongue wouldn't work.

"_This._" The distance between their faces went from slight to nothing as Katsuya Jounouchi leaned forward and their lips met in a timely, passionate kiss. Still, Seto couldn't move away, but his tongue was certainly working again.

He and Jounouchi had very different ways of waking up. Jou had awoken suddenly from the horror of what he took to be a nightmare. Whereas Seto woke slowly, no matter what the dream, taking his precious time to process his thoughts.

_Who am I?_ Seto Kaiba. Eighteen, KaibaCorp CEO.

_What day is it?_ Wednesday. A school and work day.

_Anything unusual?_ I think I had a disturbing dream, but nothing more sinister than that.

_What was it?_ Well…I think I was in the kitchen. Thinking…then someone – the Jounouchi mutt – entered. He – told me he wanted something, and we…

Seto's eyes widened at the memory.

"God no," he groaned.

* * *

I just asked my friend, 'Name a computer game,' and she said _Medieval Total War_.

Review! You know you want to!


	3. Deja Vu

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

* * *

Ch. 3: Déjà vuJou didn't want to be at school today. Not that he wouldn't always prefer to be at KFC or some other fast food place, but he really didn't want to be sitting behind Kaiba for six hours after that dream. _Nightmare,_ he told himself. _Not dream, nightmare._ Well, maybe Kaiba would be away on a business trip or something…maybe he'd be lucky… 

Nope. Moneybags was here, as usual. As soon as he walked into the classroom, Jou's head was flooded with the memories of kissing his dream-enemy. Why, _why_ did he have to dream that?

Kaiba's cold eyes glanced at him, and he shivered. Kissing Kaiba, of all people. Horrible. Couldn't it have been an anonymous pretty girl instead of his male worst enemy? Kaiba sat down in his regular seat, and Jou scowled at his back. It was all his fault.

* * *

Seto would have liked nothing more than to skip school and spend all day at the office. His dream disturbed him, and he didn't think seeing the mutt would make him more comfortable. Being kissed by a guy had shocked him, but being kissed by Jounouchi had damn well terrified him – if, that is, Seto Kaiba was capable of being terrified.

His eyes turned briefly to the mutt as he walked to his seat, who stared back blankly. Seto suppressed a shudder; those brown eyes had been far too close in the dream. Damnit, why did he have to always sit near the mutt? Why did he have to come to school today? Why did he have to go to this school at all?

Damnit, why Jounouchi?

* * *

Jou tried to concentrate today, he really did. But that nightmare had really messed him up, and Kaiba was right in front of him, for gods' sake. At least it was only Kaiba's back he could see; he didn't want to ever again see those cobalt blue eyes that had been so near his, and he _especially_ didn't want to see those lips that had touched his…were they as soft in real life as they were in his dream?

He internally cringed. He did _not_ just think that.

"Mr. Jounouchi?"

Oh, shit.

"Would you mind telling us the answer?"

Next thing he knew, he was in the principal's office, being asked why he didn't think he needed to focus like everyone else. When he was finally ordered to go back to class, he instead went to the bathrooms to wash his face and cool off the disturbing thoughts. He ran a tap, splashed water over his face, and looked in the mirror. He looked sullen and pale.

"Damnit…why me?" he muttered.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," commented a voice behind him. Jou looked again at the mirror's reflection and instantly regretted it.

"What're ya doing here, Kaiba?"

Kaiba smirked. "Mutts aren't the only ones who need to clear their thoughts. But unlike you, I don't need to be sent to the principal to do so."

"You're just lucky I don't wanna waste my time with you, rich boy, or I'd knock yer teeth out."

"Why don't you look me in the eye and say that, mutt?"

Jou hesitated. Kaiba had noticed that he was reluctant to look at his face. It appeared cowardly, but better that than be reminded once again of the repulsive nightmare.

"Just as I thought," came his enemy's loathsome voice. "You're just a spineless, cowering puppy, like you always were…"

That was it. Nightmare or no nightmare, he gave Kaiba the nastiest glare in the world, and balled up his fist, preparing to punch.

"I'm not the stinkin' coward here, Kaiba," he snarled. "I ain't the one who has to insult everyone because it's the only way I can get human contact! I ain't the one with no friends or family! But you have a brother, right? Is he even really your brother? Or just another paid servant?"

That must have been enough to snap Kaiba, enough to trigger his long-dormant rage, because Jou had never seen the brunette look so furious. He lunged forward and grabbed Jou's collar, pulling him in so he could hear every venomous word.

"Never say that again," he hissed. "Or I'll – I'll – "

Jou knew that it probably wasn't wise to bring up Mokuba, but that didn't really matter at the moment – all that mattered right now was that he wasn't beaten to a pulp within the next five seconds.

* * *

Seto could have killed Jou at that moment. _"Is he even really your brother? Or just another paid servant?"_ The stupid mutt didn't know anything. Seto had pulled him by the collar, intent on causing him pain.

"Never say that again. Or I'll – I'll – "

But Seto didn't finish, because he had just realised he was experiencing a bit of déjà vu. For only hours before, he had had the puppy's face inches from his own, and those same brown eyes staring into his…

* * *

Kaiba wasn't pausing for the effect, Jou knew. He had faltered, the same way he might have done if a teacher had walked into the bathroom and demanded to know what they were fighting about this time.

There was only a split second's silence, and in that time Jou had a revelation: This wasn't the first time in his life, or even in the last twenty-four hours, that he had been in this situation. True, there was a lot more anger behind them, but these blue eyes were the same ones that gazed into his in the dream. Nightmare. He couldn't differentiate at the moment. The person was the same, the face was the same, even the lips were the same.

So in that split second, Jou did the most logical thing he could think of. He leaned towards the person holding him and he kissed.

* * *

Voila! True love's first kiss, if it isn't too bold to say. The kiss goes for nearly all of the next chapter, so don't think it went too quickly! My computer has only just started working again, so I'm on an updating frenzy at the moment and am typing as quickly as humanly possible.

You know the drill, please review! Every author loves feedback! Thanks for reading!


	4. Pull Away

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

* * *

Ch. 4: Pull Away

All Seto's anger diminished, to be replaced by shock. Was he having this dream again? He screwed his eyes shut, trying to wake up, but his stomach disappeared as he realised he was one hundred percent awake.

So then why was he frozen?

He tried to rationalise his thoughts, which was very difficult considering his position. _What happened?_ We were insulting each other, fighting, and now this! _How?_ I don't know, he just leaned forward and – and –

_And what?_

I don't have to say it!

_Acceptance is the first step towards dealing with a problem._

But – but – oh, all right – we _kissed_.

_Kissed?_

Yes. And – are still kissing.

_Are you enjoying it?_

No! Of course not! What do you take me for!

_Then why haven't you pulled away?_

I will pull away. I have every intention of pulling away.

_When?_

In a second. As soon as possible.

_As soon as possible was a long time ago._

Well…perhaps not as soon as possible. But soon enough.

_Is it really so hard just to pull yourself away?_

…Yes.

* * *

Jou couldn't believe what he'd done. What he was still doing. It was totally and utterly crazy, so similar and yet so completely different from his dream. The main difference was that he wasn't waking up.

Kaiba hadn't pulled away. He hadn't expected that. He thought this would be just another way to annoy the moneybags – extreme an idea though it was – but he knew deeper down, grudgingly, if that was all it was, he wouldn't have done it at all. And Kaiba hadn't pulled away, even though it was clear he had received quite a shock.

At least ten seconds had gone by. No, more like twenty. None of Jou's other kisses had lasted this long. One more thing to add to the list of things that made this one unique.

Slowly and almost regretfully, their lips parted. The expression on Kaiba's face was the same icy neutral as it always was, except something in his features betrayed the fact that something very unexpected had just happened. Jou wondered just how much he had shaken up the CEO.

"Well?" he said, as though nothing extraordinary had passed.

Kaiba was silent for a few moments. Regaining his professional composure. In a low, strangely un-Kaiba-like way, he said, "This meant nothing."

Jou stood there quietly as Kaiba turned to leave. But before opening the door he looked back.

"Spontaneity, thy name is Jou," he said cryptically, then walked away.

Jou felt an unstoppable grin slide onto his face. So this meant nothing, huh? Kaiba was a worse liar than Jou thought. If it really meant nothing, Kaiba would have called him mutt instead of his name.

_He must think I'm a damn good kisser.

* * *

_

Short, I know, but it covers what I wanted it to. I handwrite all my stories before typing them, and I've almost written out of my handwritten material for this story! Noooo! But I shall keep writing if it kills me...


	5. Questions Raised

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh - and this chapter, to Robin's Lil Angel, because we have intertwined destinies...

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

* * *

Ch. 5: Questions Raised

Jou didn't go back to class and wasn't seen until lunch. Seto, on the other hand, returned, even though he knew there was no way he could pay attention. He tried to occupy his mind with other issues, but he would have had to have been a robot not to think about how he was just kissed by his worst enemy. Where had that come from? He hadn't led Jou on or anything. And why didn't he pull away? Had he _enjoyed_ it?

"No," he thought firmly. "I didn't. I'm not…like that."

He had no idea that Jou was gay. It was relatively common knowledge that the mutt was courted by half the girls in the school (the other half being Seto's witless followers, loathed him), and he'd dated most of them. Seto didn't even think Yugi and the rest of them knew that Jou swung that way. And yet, there could be no uncertainty – straight guys didn't kiss other guys when a convenient opportunity arose. Especially not their worst enemy, especially not the way Jou kissed him.

Did Jou perhaps…have a crush on him? No; it was a spontaneous kiss, but not a lustful kiss. There was only surprise on both parts. No real emotion involved. Seto had told the truth when he said it meant nothing. Neither he nor Jou had felt anything for each other. Damn.

Damn?

Did he _want_ them to have felt something?

No. No. Assuredly not.

Or did he?

* * *

"So where were you, Jou? You can't have spent forty minutes being yelled at by the principal!" exclaimed Yugi at lunch.

"Yeah, well, I ran into Kaiba outside," said Jou. "You can guess what happened." _But you'll never guess right,_ he added silently.

"I'll bet Kaiba left class just to give you a rough time," Honda said heatedly. "I hope you gave him what was coming to him."

"Uh, yeah, I think I did." Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

"He didn't look like he was in pain when he came back."

"Although he _did_ look pretty distressed," Anzu said thoughtfully.

"Well, it was more fun to torture him mentally than physically." He wasn't exactly lying; he _had_ tortured Kaiba mentally. It was as close to the truth as he was safe to say out loud. And speaking of the truth, there were a few questions he needed to ask himself.

One: Was he gay? No, one kiss with a guy doesn't make you gay. Especially when there have been a hundred kisses with girls before. He had never questioned his sexuality before, and he didn't think he needed to start now, just because of…what happened. But then he couldn't deny that kissing Kaiba had made him feel something that no girl had ever done. Wow. Maybe, _maybe_ he was gay.

Two: Had either he or Kaiba felt something from the kiss? Well he already knew that he himself felt something, though he didn't know what. Kaiba hadn't given any real indications that he felt anything, except of course that he hadn't pulled away. Jou couldn't get past that. Why hadn't he pulled away?

An answer proposed itself to him, and he laughed out loud, causing him to choke on his sandwich. After Yugi patted him hard on the back, he calmed down a little, and actually considered his idea.

Kaiba, gay? The great Seto Kaiba? True, he never reciprocated the interest of his fan girls, but Jou always thought of him as some sort of affectionless robot. If he was gay, however, everything would make sense as well. And boy, would some girls be disappointed.

Three: Did he like Kaiba? As in,_ like_ Kaiba? Jou looked around at his friends quickly, then relaxed as he reminded himself that no one present could read his thoughts. Still, he had to be sure that there were no Millennium Eyes around. He didn't think he _could_ like Kaiba – they were enemies, after all. Kaiba himself had said that the kiss meant nothing, so why should that have changed? But how can you go through that with someone and remain their enemy?

"Are you okay, Jou?" asked Yugi. "You seem really quiet today."

"I'm fine. Just thinkin'."

Honda snorted. "You, thinking?"

"Yeah." As a matter of fact, he was thinking very deeply. He wanted answers. Unfortunately he could only come up with more questions. So he had to go to the one person who could provide the answers he was looking for: Seto Kaiba.

* * *

Hahaha, I know exactly what's going to happen next…thank you to the wonderful reviewers, you guys rock! 


	6. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

A/N – Even though I've only been writing this for a week, I've been working on it really, really hard, and it's so fantastic to know that people like it…I suppose most authors, fanfic or otherwise, feel that way…so once again, thank you to all you terrific people who review. You guys are the best! Aww I'm getting all sad and sappy…well anyway here's Chapter 6!

* * *

Ch. 6: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid 

Jou was reluctant to approach Kaiba that day. For one thing, he'd be lucky to be able to talk to him sensibly without arousing the suspicion of his friends – it wasn't exactly secret that the two were enemies. For another, he knew Kaiba wouldn't want to talk about what happened, and he'd be putting his safety in jeopardy by trying to force the all-powerful Seto Kaiba to do something against his will.

There was never a good opportunity to talk – not that Jou was looking particularly hard. But he kept replaying that kiss in his head, and he knew he'd go crazy if he didn't sort things out, so it had to be done eventually.

It wasn't until Friday, two days later, that he managed to say three words to Kaiba at all. That was in a geography lesson, just after Jou got a simple mapping question hopelessly wrong.

"I thought dogs had a good sense of direction," Kaiba had smirked.

To which Jou had replied, "Shut up, Kaiba."

And now it was Saturday, and he had to survive the whole weekend without any answers. Just great. He was _dying_ because of this. But it wasn't as though he had any choice; what could he do, march up to Kaiba's mansion and knock on the door? Yeah, right.

He blinked.

March up to Kaiba's mansion and knock on the door.

No. He couldn't…could he?

Was it really that stupid an idea?

Up and rummaging through his closet looking for his sneakers, he said to himself, "I'm about to find out."

* * *

"You don't look so good this morning, Seto."

"I had difficulty sleeping," Seto informed his brother. His left hand shook involuntarily, spilling the contents of his coffee cup on the kitchen table.

Mokuba frowned. "You haven't slept properly in ages, Seto. And now there's coffee everywhere. What's wrong?"

The teen didn't answer. Mokuba was right, he hadn't had a decent sleep in days; since Wednesday to be precise. And a prize to who could guess why not.

Seto always valued his ability to think coolly and logically in even the most pressing situations, but at the moment he would have given his company to be able to stop his brain from attempting to fathom that kiss. He couldn't help it – interpreting unreasonable circumstances was something his mind did automatically. He had never thought a good enough excuse for something was, 'just because,' and science and logic could explain just about anything. Which was why he once refused to believe the Ancient Egyptian magical connections to modern Duel Monsters, and why the unfathomable knowledge that he had been kissed by his worst enemy had given him sleepless nights.

"Seto?"

"Hm?"

"Are you going to clean off the table?"

He sighed, grateful for something to do that required little thought. "Do you have plans for today, Mokuba?"

The raven-haired boy looked hopeful. "I wanted to go to the movies with my friends…if that's okay?" Normally he had to beg for days in advance before getting his brother's permission to spend a day with friends, but Seto simply nodded in agreement. Mokuba's eyes lit up and he caught Seto in a binding hug. "Thank you, big brother! What are you doing today?"

"Working from home." Surprise, surprise.

* * *

Now that Jou was here, it seemed like such a stupid plan. _Just march up to Kaiba's mansion,_ he had said. _Just go right up there and knock on the door, _he had said. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He could already see Kaiba's sneer as he tried desperately not to humiliate himself…and he wasn't even at the house yet. Kaiba's driveway seemed to stretch on for miles, each step of the way reminding Jou how crazy what he was doing really was.

The door was within sight, which didn't make Jou feel any less uneasy. He knew that he'd be better off having gotten it over and done with, but he still had the hardest part to come. He had no idea what he was going to say, but even if he did he knew it wouldn't go according to plan.

He reached the giant double-doors. Phase one, marching up to the doors, was complete.

With one last murmur of, "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he knocked.

And waited.

For a very long time.

Just when he was perfectly happy to say that Kaiba wasn't home, and walk away, the doors opened. Inhaling deeply, he looked at his enemy.

"Katsuya?"

Jou blinked in confusion. "Mokuba?" For it was indeed the younger Kaiba brother that had answered his knocking, and was standing before him looking surprised.

"What're you doing here?"

"I was – just – " Jou hadn't thought of this. He had completely forgotten about the twelve-year-old that lived here. What if he insisted on knowing what Jou had to tell Kaiba? Things could get pretty awkward. "I just – thought – "

A cold voice from further inside the doors joined them. "Funny, I could have sworn I asked themfor a cat."

Oh, great. Just brilliant. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_

"Why are you on my property, mutt?"

Kaiba made himself visible in the doorway. Jou glanced quickly from him to Mokuba, and back again as he attempted to come up with a convincing lie.

"Er…school stuff," he said feebly. "I needed to talk to you about – about our maths homework. Those last few questions…I was totally lost. Thought you might be able to help."

One look at Kaiba's face was enough for Jou to gather that his story hadn't been for one second believable. But for some reason, probably for Mokuba's sake, the brunette played along. "I wouldn't want to waste my time teaching a dog mathematics, but as I assume this will only take a few seconds, you can stay for now. Mokuba, you can go."

Both Jou and Mokuba looked astonished, but the latter nodded and left for the limo. Now the two teenagers were alone on the doorstep, a frosty silence between them. Neither were looking at each other, much less talking.

Kaiba finally spoke, a little impatiently. "Was the real purpose of your visit to stand outside, not saying a word?"

"No," Jou muttered.

"Then I suggest you come inside." He turned away, and Jou, like the mutt he was credited for, obediently followed behind.

* * *

Note to self: Next time, think before just randomly typing. This will avoid blabbering on about nothing. Apologies to all readers if that was all this chapter was to them. It was certainly a lot longer than my other chapters. But thank you for reading! 


	7. Are You?

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh, and this chapter to my dear friend Laura, who when I told her she couldn't read my story, created her own account so that she could.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

This chapter is annoying me, which probably means it's not a very good chapter…it's such a hard one to write. I don't do anger well, because I don't like it. Unfortunately I had to put it in. I apologise in advance, especially to those of you who, like me, like a happy Jou.

* * *

Ch. 7: Are you?

The mutt was here. Fantastic. Fan-bloody-tastic.

There was no doubt as to why he had come. Schoolwork? Even Mokuba would have seen through that sorry excuse. Jounouchi was going to either ask about or explain the kiss on Wednesday. Well Seto didn't want to hear it. He wanted the puppy gone.

And yet for some reason that he didn't understand, he had ignored what he wanted and invited Jou inside. The blonde followed at his heels, causing him to smirk. How the puppy lived up to his name.

He directed Jou to the lounge, where he sat all too willingly, gawking at his surroundings.

"You have a home theatre system?" he said in awe.

"_Mokuba_ has a home theatre system," Seto corrected. "I have no use for such things."

A muscle in his face twitched as Jou grabbed the remote control and started flicking through channels. All two hundred and thirty of them. He looked wildly happy, as though he had never seen something so terrific; and truthfully, he probably hadn't.

"Did I give you permission to put your paws on anything?" Seto said coldly. Jou flushed, and dropped the remote sheepishly.

"Let's get one thing straight, mutt. This is my house and you are not permitted to touch things unless I say so, even though I let you inside."

Jou scowled. "Well it doesn't matter, cos I didn't come here to sightsee the Kaiba mansion."

"You wouldn't be granted a tour. Speaking of which, why _are_ you here? I seem to recall something about maths?"

The blonde's flush deepened. "That was a lie."

"I noticed as much as soon as the words were out of your mouth."

"Then why'd ya let me in?"

Seto answered, but so quietly that Jou had to ask again. And again Kaiba mumbled his response.

"Speak louder, moneybags, I can't understand a word you're sayin'."

"I…don't know," Seto said finally. Jou blinked.

"Ya don't know? The great Seto Kaiba admits there's somethin' he doesn't know?"

Seto glared at him. "What I do or don't know is not important, mutt. Just say whatever it is you want to say and get the hell out of here!"

Jou looked surprised, and it was no wonder why. Seto had lost his composure, had allowed himself to get angry, just like he had when Jou made that comment about Mokuba being a paid servant, and it was not pleasant to be on the receiving end of his rage.

"Calm down, rich boy, I just had ta ask you a few questions."

"And what makes you think I will answer?"

"I ain't leaving till you do."

Jou folded his arms and stared at Seto defiantly. Seto was at a loss for words; his authority had never been questioned in his own house before. Who did the mutt think he was dealing with?

"I will _not_ take orders from the likes of _you._"

"Wanna bet?"

"Gambling is a low sport."

Jou let out a frustrated cry. "Shut up, Kaiba, shut up for just one second! I didn't come here to argue, damn it! I don't know what your problem is, but you need to get over yourself and listen for gods' sake!"

Seto remained expressionless as Jou vented his anger. This conversation had so far been quite a heated one, but Seto didn't expect the mutt to have any real rage in him. Rage was a complex emotion, and no simpleton like Jou could contain it without reason. Seto was aware that Jou's parents were divorced, so maybe that had caused a childhood trauma which led to suppressed anger on his behalf; the same sort of thing that had happened with Seto and his stepfather Gozaburo. Events like _that_ led to true rage.

But Seto didn't react well to others' tempers, and it was all he could do not to snap back at the other teen. But instead he waited in silence for Jou to calm down again.

His breathing still coarse, Jou finally said, "I – I had ta come here. I – we gotta talk."

"What do we need to talk about?"

The blonde laughed; a reckless, humourless laugh that would have made his friends shiver. "What do we need ta talk about? Like you don't know…the kiss, of course."

"Keep your voice down!" Seto's eyes flashed dangerously. But the mirthless laughter continued.

"Why? Who's listening? Mokuba's gone, there's no one else here, right?" He raised his voice to a yell. "Can anyone hear me? Anyone there? Well _I, Katsuya Jounouchi, kissed Seto Kaiba!_ You hear that?"

"Shut up, mutt!" Seto hissed, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders. Jou complied startlingly quickly. He had a strange look in his brown eyes.

"Last time I was in this position, we ended up liplocked," he muttered, extraordinarily quietly considering how loud he had been only moments before. Seto let go off him as though he had been electrified.

"That was – this is – okay, mutt." He took a deep breath and sat down next to Jou. "You want to talk, then we shall talk."

Seto couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to this, but even though nobody else was in the house, he couldn't have the mutt screaming out that they kissed. There could be reporters in the vicinity. At least, that was the reason Seto told himself he had agreed. The real reason was that something in Jou's heartless laugh disturbed him, as had his anger. It wasn't right for laughter like that to come from Jou. Seto suspected that the last time _he_ laughed, it had sounded just like that.

"Okay, we're talkin'," Jou said, as though Seto might change his mind. "And the thing I gotta ask you – er, well, there's a few things."

"Pick one."

"Uh, well – okay then. We kissed, right?"

"Is that the question?"

Jou scowled, so Seto quickly added, "But you are correct. Continue."

"Right. Did you – what did you, y'know, get from it?"

Seto raised his eyebrows. "What did I _get_ from it?"

"Y'know, what did you feel?"

There was a long pause. Then Seto replied, "I find it doubtful that there is any point holding back the truth. I felt – shock. But less unpleasantness than one would expect while being _liplocked_, as you said, with an enemy." That sounded all right. And the puppy's face didn't fall. On the contrary, it brightened a bit.

"Right. And – about that. I mean, are we still enemies?"

"I would find it extremely difficult under the circumstances to go back exactly to the way things were. You, for example, are right now in my house. If we were enemies I would have hardly approved of this."

Jou nodded thoughtfully, a slight frown playing across his features. "So we should just – ignore what happened?"

"Denial will do no good. Although I think it would be preferable not to parade the fact that we kissed to those around us."

"Yeah," Jou said. "I can imagine Yugi and Honda's reactions…well actually I can't…"

"If you don't mind, I have a question of my own," said Seto.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. My question is, are you gay?"

Jou's eyes dropped suddenly to the floor, avoiding Seto's penetrating stare. But Seto wasn't going to give him the option of not replying.

"I dunno. I guess before last week I never really thought about it. Never thought I might be. But now, I dunno…"

He looked up again, and this time it was Seto's turn to gaze away as he knew what was coming.

"Are _you?_"

_Just say no, just say no._

"My answer is similar to yours. I never questioned my orientation, believing that it would have no effect on my future either way."

Jou looked uncertain. "So you don't know?"

"Correct."

"Well if you don't know and I don't know…how _do_ we know?"

Although Seto's lounge sofa was luxuriously large – like most of the furniture in the Kaiba household – the space between the teenagers was minimal. This only became evident at that moment, because Seto grabbed Jou's jacket and pulled him into their very second kiss. Although not as unexpected as the first, there was a lot more passion behind it, and neither boy could deny that they felt something.

After mere seconds, they parted, and Seto asked, "Now do we know?"

Jou swallowed slightly. "I – I think I might be."

* * *

Damn, can you tell when I'm running on very little inspiration? My chapters get longer, and my plot gets thinner! Their emotions were all over the place. Ah well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway… 


	8. Tease

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh 

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

First of all, I re-read my last chapter, and I don't hate it as much as I did before. I think I just hated it then because it took me so long to write.

And second of all, to my friend Laura – this chapter is not for you. I have tried time and time again to convince you, but if you still read it…well, you have been warned. So don't look at me strangely.

WARNING. CONTAINS YAOI. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT.

* * *

Ch. 8: Tease 

"So was that all you wanted to know? Or are you going to stay here for longer?" Kaiba asked.

Jou stood up, his eyes on the floor. "I don't wanna intrude any more than I need to."

"It's hardly intrusion when I invited you in," said Kaiba, rolling his eyes. "If you would like, you may use the television now."

Jou frowned suspiciously. "What happened ta, 'no touchin' my stuff,' and, 'say what you gotta say then get the hell out,'?"

"Can't a person change their mind?"

"A person can. Kaiba can't."

"Well I just did. If you want to leave now, go ahead."

Immediately, Jou sat down again and grabbed the remote control. He didn't see Kaiba roll his eyes again as he went into the next room. Instead Jou became absorbed in television shows that he didn't even know existed; occasionally coming across one he did.

"Hey, the Duelling Channel's playin' World's Greatest Wins…hey Kaiba! They're showin' your picture!"

"Are they?" Kaiba sounded faintly interested.

"It's got you battlin' someone…you must've smashed 'em to get it into World's Greatest Wins…here we go it's gonna show your opponent now…oh."

Kaiba returned to the room. "Who is it?"

"It's…uh…Yugi."

The brunette stiffened. "Oh."

The televised battle wasn't showing one of Kaiba's many victories; it was showing a crushing defeat by Yugi Mutou. Kaiba hated being reminded that he always came out second-best against Yugi, and Jou wished he hadn't said anything. In an attempt to make up for his mistake he switched of the TV.

"Sorry Kaiba, I didn't – "

"Understood. Are you hungry?"

Jou blinked. "Am I what?"

"_Hungry,_ mutt. Of all words I thought that one was in your vocabulary."

"Well…yeah, I guess so." On cue, his stomach rumbled loudly. "Why?"

"If you follow me, you will find the kitchen. In the kitchen, you will find an assortment of foods at your disposal." Kaiba waited for Jou to get up before leading him to another room.

Jou didn't understand. Kaiba, being nice? Was this the Apocalypse? Kaiba was _never_ nice, and two kisses couldn't change that. Kaiba was Kaiba. But Jou couldn't see what ulterior motive the CEO could have by offering him food, unless of course poison was involved. But poisoning someone didn't seem like Kaiba's style, and besides, Jou was _really_ hungry.

The kitchen was huge, even bigger than the lounge room. Everything was marble white and meticulously clean, like it had never been used before. A long bench stretched down the middle, and against the walls were about a hundred drawers, shelves and cupboards.

"Help yourself," said Kaiba.

The problem was, Jou didn't know what to help himself to or where to find it. His kitchen at home was just one pantry, one fridge, and one drawer. But he didn't want to ask Kaiba for help, so he picked a cupboard at random. Upon opening it, fifty or so bread knives gleamed threateningly close to his face. He shut the door hastily.

"Need some help, mutt?"

"Well ya don't exactly label where your food is," Jou grumbled.

"I don't exactly have hungry dogs coming in every day." Kaiba opened a few drawers, a couple of cupboards and a fridge, and soon he had produced two hearty sandwiches. He and Jou pulled two chairs up to the bench and began to eat. At first it was in silence, but when Jou began to feel slightly uncomfortable he made an attempt at conversation.

"So what is that you wear 'round your neck all the time?"

"This?" Kaiba indicated the card hanging from his neck.

"Yeah. Must be a pretty special monster if it ain't in your deck, even with your precious Blue Eyes White Dragons."

A smile played about Kaiba's lips. "Perhaps because this is no monster card. Or any card at all."

"What is it?"

"A photograph." He turned his accessory around for Jou to see; an image of a grinning Mokuba stared from it.

"Wow," said Jou. "And you carry that around all the time?"

"Sometimes I need to be reminded that I still have family."

_Family._ Shizuka's face flashed in Jou's mind. He hadn't seen his younger sister in months.

"Yeah, you don't wanna forget that."

Kaiba nodded. "Mokuba is the only one who I can really trust."

"Sometimes I feel that way with my sister, Shizuka."

The pause that followed this was lengthy, but then Jou said quietly, "Y'know, Kaiba…you can always trust me."

Kaiba gave another slight smile. "We have only recently stopped calling ourselves enemies. The trust barrier is still light years away."

"Your trust barrier's too hard to breach, Kaiba," Jou grinned, leaning in a little towards the brunette.

"Well if you are looking to break through it, the first step would be to call me by my first name."

Jou was surprised. _Nobody_ called Kaiba by his first name. Nobody was ever allowed. "All right…Seto." It felt strange to say it. "But you gotta start callin' me by my name too."

Kaiba – Seto – reached out and touched Jou's cheek. Jou shivered; his fingers were cool, but not unpleasantly so. Seto kissed him lightly before shaking his head. "I still prefer mutt. It suits you so well."

Jou tried to scowl, but all he could manage was an adorable pout.

"Don't look like that or I'll have no choice but to kiss you again." Predictably, Jou didn't move a muscle. So Seto leaned over the bench top again, but this time Jou was prepared, and went on the offensive. Seto didn't care. Either way he was kissing Jou.

Jou's eyes were closed. A trust barrier may have still separated them, but Jou felt at this moment that he had never trusted someone else so much in his life. It didn't matter that until only four days ago they had hated each other; all that mattered was here and now, being held by Seto. Jou could barely believe that this had all started with some stupid dream.

His tongue pressed forward against Seto's lips, demanding entrance, which was granted immediately. They realised that kissing from opposite sides of a bench was thoroughly awkward, so Jou physically climbed on top of the bench to get closer. Once there his arms snaked around Seto's waist, disregarding the shirt that was irksomely in the way. Seto freed himself from Jou's mouth and instead moved down to his collarbone. Jou took a sharp intake of breath, then gritted his teeth, trying not to moan, but it escaped from him anyway. Seto took this as a compliment, and reached to help remove the blonde's T-shirt. Not that Jou did anything; he was enjoying Seto's assistance a lot.

Seto was making his way slowly down Jou's well-toned torso, attacking with his tongue whatever he could reach, but suddenly Jou leaned away.

"You can't have all the fun," he grinned.

Their positions were reversed, Seto having relinquished control, and Jou almost literally on top of him. The puppy's body heat flowed into him, giving him an internal warmth that he rarely experienced. But Jou was toying with him; kissing was all well and good but not when it left Seto so hungry for something more. He gave an intense groan as his neck became subject to not just Jou's lips, but to an extent, his teeth as well. That was going to leave a mark. Seto felt his body give way to the hard-on throbbing beneath his clothing - damn the puppy for being such a tease.

"Come on, mutt, you can do better than that."

So Jou did, but damnit he was taking his sweet time. For someone who wanted this as much as Seto – which was obvious, from the bulge beneath his own pants – he sure was patient. Well Seto was _not_ patient. Instead of waiting for Jou, he threw himself forward, reversing their positions again.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, mutt: I want you, and I want you _now_."

Jou struggled for dominance, but Seto wasn't going to give in. When Jou realised that, he made one final attempt to turn things around; he flipped himself onto his stomach, rolling Kaiba off him. Convinced he had won, Jou flipped back to his normal position, when suddenly –

_SMASH!_

Fragments of china scattered over the floor, along with the remains of Jou's abandoned sandwich. The blonde had forgotten about it, and had accidentally knocked it off the bench.

"Oops," he said, sitting up.

Seto looked at him, panting. "Forget it."

"Will do," said Jou. "What a way to kill the moment though, huh?"

"Pretend nothing happened. Go back to where we were."

Jou shook his head, picking his shirt up off the ground. "No way, Kai- Seto."

"_What?_"

"The moment's gone. We'll have to wait till next time."

Seto looked at Jou like he was completely crazy. "_Next time?_"

Jou nodded, grinning. "Tough luck, Seto. Guess I'll be going soon. But can I go to your bathroom, or somewhere else private first?" He gestured at the prominence in his trousers. "Can't exactly leave the house like this."

Seto just gaped at him. It took him some time to process what had just happened. Unfortunately, his still-present arousal helped him understand.

Damn the puppy for being such a tease.

* * *

MWAHAHAHA! I'm rather evil, aren't I? I doubt I'll survive the day having interrupted Seto and Jou like that…don't hate me, lol, be patient…

I think that's the longest chapter so far…I actually have a plan now of what happens in the later chapters, so there is now a plot! Well, sort of…hope you enjoyed; please review!


	9. Guys' Night

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

Re-reading that last chapter – I thought it was pretty tame, really. Only lightweight yaoi. But bits and pieces of that sort of stuff will definitely appear in other chapters, and in a chapter, not too far away, _there will be a lemon._ Remember that. Just be patient…

This was originally going to be a single chapter with chapter 10, but it's way too long. This one doesn't have much to do with the storyline, but it's fun anyway!

Read, enjoy, and review! Thanks to all who have liked this story so far!

* * *

Ch. 9: Guys' Night 

When Jou said goodbye to Seto, he received only an infuriated glare in response. But he didn't care. Leaving someone in suspense always guaranteed to make them more interested, and he wanted the brunette _very_ interested.

True, he had wanted to take Seto then and there, but smashing that plate really _had_ killed the atmosphere, even if Seto didn't think it had. Both of them, as Jou had said, would just have to wait until next time. And by leaving, he had ensured that there _would_ be a next time. He was – in his own mind – quite a genius for thinking of that.

Did he regret leaving? Maybe. But perhaps it was all for the best; he had to get home to pack his bag anyway. He was going to Yugi's place tonight, along with Honda. Anzu wasn't going – she had been a little annoyed at not being invited, but this was to be a guys' night, no exceptions. And guys' nights had no rules. Anzu probably knew deep down that she didn't really want to know what went on there.

The promise of tonight kept Seto off Jou's mind for most of the afternoon, although there was the occasional slip-up that left him muttering repeatedly, "Think unsexy thoughts…think unsexy thoughts…Honda and Anzu making out…Pegasus doing a striptease…ugh, that's _disgusting_…" to stop himself getting too stirred with pleasurable memories of that morning.

But once at Yugi's, Seto had left Jou's mind completely. Guys' nights were too much fun to think about anything much.

It was eleven at night, and Jou, Yugi and Honda were playing 'I Never'. One person would say something starting with the phrase, 'I never,' for example, 'I never kissed someone I didn't know.' Then, anyone playing who _had_ kissed someone they didn't know had to take a sip from their drink – generally played with alcohol, although the teens refrained from getting too drunk.

"I never had a crush on my best friend's sister," said Jou, glaring obviously at Honda, who took a mouthful of his beverage. It was widely known that he liked Shizuka, Jou's sister.

"I never liked someone completely out of bounds," said Yugi, and all three of them drank without a second thought.

"I never hurt someone so badly they tried to stalk me afterwards." Honda, with a shudder, drank alone.

"I never cheated on someone, sexually or otherwise, and had them never find out." To their surprise, Yugi took a sip at that one.

"You did?" said Jou, amazed. "And you never _told_ us?"

Yugi blushed and mumbled something incoherent. Something including the words, 'only for a few days,' and, 'totally accidental'.

"Yeah, right," said Honda, winking at him. "But anyway…I never slept with anyone."

The drinks remained untouched by all. Yugi and Honda were looking pointedly at Jou.

"What?" he said indignantly.

"You're not going to drink to that?" said Yugi dubiously.

"'Course not! I haven't slept with anyone, so I ain't drinkin'."

Honda looked disbelieving. "Jou, you've been out with about a thousand girls in the last three years! How can you not have slept with a single one?"

Jou shrugged. "Just haven't." _I didn't know it then, but maybe because I'm just not that into girls._

"This game's getting old. What do you say, one more and then we'll do something else?" said Yugi.

"Yeah," agreed Jou. "But I get to do this one – I never questioned my sexuality."

There was a hesitant pause, but then both Yugi and Honda picked up their glasses and finished off what was left in them. Jou nodded thoughtfully, and drank as well. No words were exchanged about that last revelation.

"What game now?" he asked. Honda shrugged.

Yugi suggested, "We could just ask each other questions, and you have to answer truthfully."

"You mean like truth or dare?" Honda raised his eyebrows.

"Well, yeah, only without the dares."

"But dares are the best part!" Jou protested. The others paid no attention to him.

"So it's truth or truth?" Honda guessed. But Yugi shook his head.

"Truth or truth doesn't sound interesting enough…it's got to be truth and something else."

"How 'bout truth or thruth?" said Jou. "It's different to truth or truth, but ya still get the idea of it."

"Truth or thruth?" Yugi laughed. "Okay…truth or thruth it is then. Thruth is exactly the same as truth, right?"

"Right."

"I'll start," volunteered Honda. "Jou, truth or thruth?"

"Thruth."

Honda had just opened his mouth to ask a question, when a loud ringing filled the air. Yugi jumped up and grabbed the phone, while the other two watched silently. He didn't seem to be talking much, just listening, and frowning, and Jou wondered if something was wrong. Finally, Yugi put the phone down with an, "Okay, I know there's no use saying no to you. See you soon."

"Who was it?" Honda asked. Yugi groaned slightly.

"The only four people on the planet who would call me from the end of my street, having forgotten which number house to gatecrash."

Jou's eyes widened. "They're not."

Yugi nodded, seemingly bracing himself for something, and instantly four people burst through the front door without knocking. All of them grinned at the sight of the people they knew, and one of them clapped Yugi on the back.

"Long time no see, Yugi!" Malik said loudly. "Where in Ra's name is that Yami of yours?"

Malik, Marik, Ryou, and Bakura. Two people, and their two hikaris. All were friends of Jou's, although they were a little more extreme than everyone else around them. Well, maybe not Ryou as much, but they were all extreme enough to be _very_ public about their homosexuality. Not just _very_ public, actually – more like enormously and tremendously public. A lot of kids at school couldn't believe the things they did to each other in front of other people without even a second thought.

Basically, they were the very people to make a guys' night a night to remember.

"I – I'm not sure where Yami is, Malik…but I doubt he'll turn up tonight."

"Enjoys missing out on all the fun, doesn't he?" said Bakura, collapsing right on top of Ryou, who was already on the couch. "Got anything to drink?"

Marik already had it covered, having raided Yugi's fridge for as much alcohol as he could carry. Yugi knew better than to bother trying to stop them; those four had no limits. He left the room for literally thirty seconds, and by the time he got back Ryou and Bakura wereall over each other,locked ina tongue wrestling match. Thirty seconds!

"So what's happened so far? Have you played 'I Never' yet?" Marik asked keenly.

"Yeah, just finished."

"Damn!" exclaimed Bakura, extracting himself from his hikari's mouth. "I love that game…what are you doing now?"

"Truth or thruth."

Malik blinked. "Truth or what?"

"Thruth. It's just the same thing as truth," Jou explained.

Marik laughed. "No dares then? How tame. I s'pose it was little Yugi's idea?"

Nobody denied it. He laughed again. "Come on, let's make it interesting! Let thruth be both truth _and _dare!"

Honda stared at him. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Mightn't we just play truth or dare then?"

"No way!" Bakura shouted. "Truth or thruth sounds much better…can I start?"

Malik and the Yamis nodded eagerly, but Yugi, Honda and Jou looked apprehensive; they all knew what sort of questions Bakura was likely to ask…

"Malik! Truth or thruth?"

"Thruth," Malik said bravely.

Bakura grinned evilly. "S and M: good or bad?"

The more normal people of the group cringed – they did _not_ want to hear this! But they knew what to expect from these people, and they had to deal with it.

"Good," said Malik slyly.

"Bakura, you are the limit," Honda said, shaking his head ruefully.

"Oh, this party's just getting started," said Ryou, his arm around Bakura's waist. Malik turned to Jou.

"Truth or thruth?"

* * *

Haha yeah, like I said this isn't particularly storyline related, although things about Jou and Seto are revealed to his friends in the next chapter…it's just too much fun to write to resist! I love those guys, Malik, Marik, Ryou and Bakura. They're the most fun supporting character yaois in the world!

And just for the record - my friend Laura and I invented truth or thruth. Strongly recommended, although the copyright is ours ;)


	10. Truth or Thruth

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to Laura, because we are the inventors of truth or thruth.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

This was originally going to be a single chapter with chapter 9, but it turned out to be way too long. Malik, Marik, Ryou and Bakura are so cool…I wish I had friends like them! And I apologise for the lack of Seto in these two chapters, but I'm not dissing him or anything, I promise!

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 10: Truth or Thruth

Malik paused. "I can't ask something till I know what happened in 'I Never'. Did anything good come out?"

"Well, Yugi cheated on someone in a non-sexual way and they never found out," recapped Honda, causing Yugi to bury his head in his hands.

"No way!" Marik exclaimed giving his short, tricolour-haired friend a light punch on the arm.. "Our little Yugi? Did something _sneaky?_"

"Accidental…nothing happened…" Yugi murmured under his breath. Marik's reaction was exactly the same as Honda's; a grin and a knowledgeable wink.

"Accidental, yeah, of course. What else?"

"Who's slept with who?" Bakura asked eagerly. Only one thing ever on _his_ mind.

Yugi recovered a little from his embarrassment. "No one, actually. None of us have slept with anyone."

"_What?_" Ryou yelled, jumping up off the couch, which meant that Bakura fell quite painfully to the floor. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Jou shook his head.

"Amateurs!" Malik said haughtily. "Well that's all I need to go on…Jou, how many people have begged you for sex but you turned them down?"

Jou hastily grabbed some alcohol. He would need it to survive the night. "Nine."

The four psychos laughed. "Made yourself untouchable, eh Jou?"

"Shut up, Marik. It's my turn now." He turned to Yugi. "Truth or thruth?"

"Truth," Yugi answered, sounding relieved that _Jou_ had asked him, as opposed to a sex-crazed maniac.

"Who was it you cheated with?"

Yugi paled, and followed Jou's example of snatching up the nearest bottle to fortify himself. But his only answer to the question was an inaudible whisper.

"Come on, Yugi, spit it out!" Ryou said impatiently.

But Yugi seemed incapable of saying it out loud, so Jou found him paper and a pen so that he could write it instead. This he did, but before anybody else read it he sprinted clean out of the room.

"Chicken…" Malik muttered. "Least he left the paper. What's it say?"

Jou picked it up, read it, and promptly dropped it again. "No way!"

"What?" Bakura snatched it up, and gaped as well. "_Yami?_"

"What!" everyone else who hadn't read it shouted.

"Yugi! Get back here right now!" roared Marik. "You can't just tell us you cheated on someone with your Yami and then leave!"

Yugi didn't come out from wherever he was hiding. He always _was_ easily embarrassed.

Bakura chuckled. "Yami and Yugi…I always wondered why the Pharaoh never married." For no credible reason at all, he turned and pashed Ryou.

"What do we do now?" asked Honda. "It's supposed to be Yugi's turn."

"I'll take his place," Marik offered, grinning sardonically. "This question goes to everyone: who here is – or thinks they are - gay?"

Ryou, with Bakura back on top of him, pretended to think. "You know, I do believe there's the _slightest_ chance I'm gay."

"No way," Honda said sarcastically. "I think the question was more aimed at me and Jou, somehow. But it so happens that I'm not gay, and I don't think Jou is either, right Jou?"

No answer.

"…right, Jou?"

Still nothing. A grin spread onto Bakura's face.

"Is there something you haven't been telling us, Jou?"

Honda's jaw dropped.

"Maybe," said Jou, avoiding eye contact.

"No way!" Honda threw a shoe at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jou rubbed his head where the shoe had hit. Marik and Malik were grinning triumphantly; Ryou and Bakura had already gone back to making out on the couch. What a reaction to finding out one of your friends was gay, although it wasn't really a big deal to these people. Except maybe Honda. Well, Honda didn't exactly mind that Jou was gay – he just minded that he was the only one _not_ gay in the vicinity.

"Great, now who do I pick up chicks with?" he grumbled.

Unbeknownst to them all, Yugi had crept back into the room to continue the game. So when he spoke, everyone jumped, as they all thought he was still somewhere else.

"When did you find out, Jou?"

"Uh…" Jou thought for a moment. "Well…this morning, I guess."

"What happened this morning to make you realise?" Ryou said deviously. Bakura gave him a light punch.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, hikari."

"Oh yeah, because yours is never there."

"When did I say that? I just said yours shouldn't be."

"Hey guys?" said Honda. "Are we still playing this game or what?"

"I agree, Honda." Bakura's eyes flashed in amusement. "Ryou, truth or thruth?"

"Thruth." Even Ryou looked slightly nervous, taking a large gulp from his glass to prepare himself for whatever Bakura had in store for him.

"I thruth you to let me drag you to the nearest bedroom and let me have my way with you."

Ryou – along with Honda, Jou and Yugi – choked on his drink. Hikari or not, boyfriend or not, Bakura was dangerous to anyone and everyone. By accepting that thruth, Ryou had as good as signed his torture warrant. He had every right to be terrified for his wellbeing. But Bakura was already up and pulling his arm towards the hallway.

"No way!" Yugi leapt off the floor and tried to cut them off. "The nearest bedroom is _mine!_ You two are _not_ going in there!"

Yugi should have known that when Bakura wanted something, no one stood in his way. And Yugi was no exception. Bakura wanted that bedroom, so Bakura _got _that bedroom, door closed, leaving Yugi to only imagine the horrors that he and Ryou were wreaking in there.

"Um…truth or thruth?" Yugi asked weakly, to no one in particular.

"Truth," Jou answered, also trying to keep the mental images of Bakura and Ryou firmly _out_.

Malik took over. "So what made you realise you were gay this morning? Make out with a guy?"

Honda laughed, but then his eyes widened as he saw Jou unmistakably blushing.

"You _didn't!"_

"Jesus, Honda, he hasn't even said anything yet!" Malik scolded, but looking delighted all the same. "Come on, Jou! Just tell us the truth..."

Jou knew his voice would fail him, so he didn't even try to speak.

"Come on, Malik, look how red he is!" smirked Marik. "I think we all know the answer."

Yugi looked stunned, despite his evident lack of surprise upon finding out Jou was gay earlier. Well, finding out someone was gay and finding out they had been making out with another guy that very morning were very different things. Jou was surprised to find that he didn't care that they knew, but he might feel differently if they found out with _whom _he had made out. But he knew they would ask; he would just have to avoid giving an answer.

"Who was it, Jou? Was it Otogi?"

"Was it Dartz?"

"Was it Honda?"

"Hey!" Honda protested. "Leave me out of this! Didn't I already say I was straight?"

"Yeah, but we only have your word on that, don't we?"

"Why, you – "

"Hey!" Jou found his voice again and grabbed Honda to stop him from launching an attack on Marik. "Calm down! If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys were drunk."

A loud _CRASH_ echoed from Yugi's room.

"Actually, it sounds like those two are the drunk ones to me," Malik grinned. Yugi shuddered.

"I'll never be able to sleep in there again," he moaned.

"If you like," said Marik in an innocent tone that fooled no one, "Malik and I could go in there and put a stop to whatever it is they're doing before Ryou gets hurt."

"Now why don't I believe that?" Malik laughed. "You wouldn't stop Bakura, you'd damn well join in!"

"But Yugi didn't know that!"

"Trust me, Marik." Jou was shaking his head. "_Everyone _knew that."

"Nevertheless…"

Yugi shook his head vigorously. "No. No way. _No_, Marik, don't even think about it…"

But Marik thought about it. And he had every intention of carrying it out. Totally disregarding Yugi's warning, he and Malik staggered – they _were_ rather drunk by this time – in the same direction that Ryou and Bakura had gone before.

Jou, Honda and Yugi were left in an awkward silence, trying as hard as they could not to listen to any sounds that came from Yugi's room. Which was not an easy task.

Honda eventually turned to Yugi. "So, you never told us…what happened with you and Yami exactly?"

Another crash, followed by Bakura yelling, "Damnit, Ryou, since when are you so aggressive?" was heard by all. Yugi winced.

"I'll tell you some time when I'm _not_ about to throw up," he said.

* * *

I love those four psychos…particularly Bakura, for no reason in particular. The lack of Seto will be made up for in the next chapter! In the meantime, please review! 


	11. A La Parc

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

I try to convince myself that there is no such thing as writer's block. Unfortunately it is extremely hard to keep telling myself that! This chapter was rather difficult to write.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 11: A La Parc

Seto ate his breakfast in his bedroom on Sunday, for a variety of reasons. For one thing the plate Jou had smashed yesterday was still on the floor. This not only repelled Seto because of the mess, but because it served as a reminder of Jou having denied him what he wanted. And yet, when Mokuba asked him why he didn't clean it up, he had no answer.

"What are you doing today, brother?" the younger Kaiba inquired. But before Seto so much as thought his obvious response, the raven-haired boy cut him off. "You can't work. It's Sunday. No one works on Sunday."

"I do," Seto said drily. Mokuba shook his head firmly.

"Not today. I haven't seen you _not_ working since Tuesday. It's the weekend, and you're doing something with _me._"

He walked out of the room; Seto was left wondering how a twelve-year-old had so much sway over him. Mokuba was the only one in the world he ever gave in to. Reluctantly, the brunette left the confines of his bed to join his brother downstairs. It looked far too sunny outside – since Seto had never been the outdoorsy type he had a bit of an aversion to overly warm weather – but for Mokuba this temperature was perfect.

"Seto, we _have _to do something outside, go somewhere," Mokuba said excitedly. "The waterfront, or the park! Can we, Seto? Can we go to the park?"

Seto groaned. He _hated_ the park. But if he said no, Mokuba would only use the Look on him until he felt so guilty he would agree eventually anyway.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. "The park."

* * *

Jou woke up on Yugi's floor. He had a massive headache. _Did I get smashed last night or something? I didn't drink _that_ much…or did I drink so much that I can't remember?_

He looked around. Honda was asleep not too far away, but Yugi was nowhere in sight. His brain hurt to think and his thoughts were unclear and unfocused, but he assumed Yugi was in his bedroom, probably still dead to the world as well. Slowly he tried to stand up – almost losing his balance – but once his headache subsided he was stable enough to walk down the hall. He heard a noise coming from the kitchen, but he thought nothing of it.

He opened Yugi's door. "Hey, Yuug," he said, relieved to find that talking didn't hurt his head. "What happened last night, I've completely for- AAAAAAAGH!"

Suffice to say, of all things Jou could have thought might be lying in Yugi's bed; Ryou, Bakura, Malik and Marik, all of them with _far_ too few clothes on, was not one of them.

And just to make matters worse, Jou's yell woke all of them up.

Ryou screamed as well, out of surprise, and promptly fell off the bed; Bakura looked tired and annoyed at being woken up; Malik looked around wildly to see what had happened, then groaned and shut his eyes again when he realised it was just Jou. Marik grinned evilly.

"If you wanted to join in, Jou, all you had to do was ask."

Jou didn't even bother retorting; he was too horrified for words. Silently, and with his eyes now shut, he backed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. As he stood there, trying in vain to eliminate from his memory anything he had just seen, Yugi walked towards him from the kitchen, holding a glass of water.

"Jou?" he said, concern in his voice. "What's wrong? You look like you've just seen – " His already round eyes widened even more as he saw Jou's hand, firmly holding the bedroom door shut. "– something very disturbing."

Jou nodded slightly, feeling a bit sick. Yugi dropped his glass of water.

"You _went in_ there? I sure hope it was by accident!"

"Geez, Yuug, what do you take me for? Of _course _it was by accident!"

Yugi sighed in relief. Then, meekly, he said, "Was my room okay?"

Jou reluctantly thought back to what state the bedroom had been in. He hadn't really been paying attention at the time. "Probably best to get a new bed."

Yugi whimpered quietly.

Later, Jou, Yugi and Honda were eating breakfast. The others still weren't up, and nobody wanted to go in there and make them get up.

"What are we going to do today?" Honda asked.

"The weather's great," Yugi observed. "We should go somewhere."

"The park?" suggested Jou. The other two nodded in agreement. "Are we gonna tell _them?_" He inclined his head towards the hall.

"Of _course_ you're going to tell us!" Jou let out a loud exclamation as Marik jumped out from behind the door. Malik, Ryou and Bakura stepped out from similar hiding places.

"What were you hiding for!" Jou yelped.

Bakura swept back his long white hair and gave his best attempt at an innocent look. "Why in Ra's name would we be hiding?"

"You tell me!"

Malik shook his head sadly. "Jou, I think you had too much to drink last night. Now, about this park business…"

He, Marik, Ryou and Bakura said in unison, "We're going!"

* * *

Seto didn't know what he was supposed to do. Mokuba hadn't let him bring his laptop to the park, so he was stuck doing nothing. The park was so boring. And loud. Seto didn't like the noise. Too many people.

"Is it always this full?" he asked his brother, who gave him an odd look as they paced around the park.

"Seto, this is basically _empty!"_

Seto begged to differ. It looked as though all of Domino City's minor population was here. He recognised some of them from school, and they recognised him too – some kids looked surprised to see him out in public. Apart from in school nobody ever saw him. Except for yesterday, of course, when Jou had stopped by the house…Seto began to remember how close they had been; how Jou had shakily admitted that he might be gay; how they had kissed, and almost done more…

Caught up in these thoughts, Seto didn't realise that Mokuba had wandered off in some other direction, leaving him alone, and not looking where he was going. He didn't realise this until he bashed into something; something that swore loudly as it fell over.

"Shit! Watch where you're going!"

Seto looked down at the person he had knocked down. It didn't take much to recognise that white hair and those angry dark eyes.

"Bakura."

"Kaiba."

Another person behind Bakura took a sharp intake of breath, and Seto's eyes widened as he saw all of the boy's friends standing right near him – including the last person he expected to see. His stomach involuntarily flipped inside him.

Jou looked stunned. "_Kaiba?"

* * *

_

Crap. Oh, crap. Of all the times to see Seto, why did it have to be here, when everyone was around? How was he supposed to act? They all thought he still hated Seto! They had no idea about the things that had happened between them…what was he supposed to do?

Luckily, Honda prevented him from doing anything stupid. "What are you doing out here, Kaiba? Did your building catch fire? There can't be any other reason you'd be outside."

Seto glared at him. Jou wanted to hit Honda for the insult, but that would make things a little obvious, wouldn't it?

"Was it your aim to waste my time?" Seto said coldly. "Because if so, you've succeeded."

"Was it your aim to bowl over Bakura?" Marik retorted. "You sure succeeded in that."

"Are you _trying_ to pick a fight?"

"So what if we are?"

"You'll only be wasting even more of my valuable – and your _in_valuable – time by doing so."

"It'd be worth every second just to see you deflate that fat head of yours!" Honda clenched his fist, with every intention of slamming it into Kaiba's face – but someone's hand reached out to stop him.

"Honda," Jou was staring at his feet. "Honda…loosen up, man. Just let it go. We don't need to fight him."

Everyone suddenly became silent, as they turned to face Jou in surprise. _Jou_, of all people, was backing down from a fight. A fight with Kaiba, no less. This was a revolutionary situation.

"Are you feeling all right, Jou?" Malik asked. And he genuinely meant it.

"I'm fine. Don't fight him."

"Jou…" said Honda. Even Seto looked taken aback. "Jou, this is _Kaiba_ we're talking about. Since when do you turn down a fight with Kaiba?"

Yugi stepped towards them. "Leave him alone, Honda. If Jou doesn't want to fight, he doesn't have to. Good on you, Jou."

Jou brought his eyes back up to everyone else. Honda, Marik, Malik and Bakura all looked shocked and slightly offended at his attitude. But Ryou was staring at him, eyes wide, as though with a sudden comprehension of something.

"Don't fight him," Jou said again, and walked away. After a few seconds, his friends followed behind him, still alarmed that he wasn't in his right mind.

Seto, meanwhile, had shaken his head at their retreating backs. "So the puppy has some strength in him after all.," he murmured, to no one except himself, before walking in the other direction.

After some distance, Jou sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk. The others followed suit.

"Jou," said Yugi. "What happened back there?"

"Nothing."

"Don't kid with us, Jou, we know when something's wrong," Honda said sharply.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Jou met Ryou's gaze, and it was the same as before – the look of someone with a new, dawning knowledge. He spoke softly and calmly.

"We're your friends. It'll be better once you've talked about it, no matter what it is."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Jou swallowed heavily. This was going to take all his courage.

"All – all right. I'll tell you."

* * *

Oh yeah! 11 chapters down, only…actually, there's a lot more to go. Enjoy!

Sorry it took me a while to write this one. My friends have given me the important task of writing an original story, so that along with 2 fanfics…my priorities keep changing. But I only have 1 week before the holidays, and then I can write as much as I like!

Please review!


	12. Confessions Part 1

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh, and this chapter to Joey because he read this story and said he liked it and it didn't gross him out XD

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

I just started doing rowing – which is HEAPS of fun, but a serious threat to my spare time. Therefore, I will have less time to write! I'm SO sorry! But the holidays are next week and I'll write every day of those two weeks, I promise.

Read, enjoy, and review! All you people who have reviewed so far, I will take this opportunity to remind you just how much you guys rock!

* * *

Ch. 12: Confessions Part 1

"It's…I…" Jou started, struggling to find the right words. "…we're together."

"Who?" said Honda, bewildered.

"I…me and – me and – "

"Kaiba?" finished Ryou knowingly. How was it that he always figured things out before anyone else? Jou inhaled deeply, and nodded.

Five jaws dropped. "No. No _way,_" said Honda, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Yeah."

"So you – you – " Yugi was also shocked beyond normal speech. "_Him?_"

Bakura and Marik were looking back at where Seto was in unconcealed disgust. Malik did the same, until something struck his mind to make him turn back to Jou.

"Last night…" he said slowly. "In the truth or thruth…when we asked what happened to make you find out you were gay…"

Bakura's head whipped around so quickly his neck cracked. He didn't care. "Holy shit, Jou, you said that you made out with a guy yesterday morning!"

Honda's horror was evident on his face. "No, Jou! You didn't! Not with Kaiba!"

Jou shut his eyes, ashamed of his friends' reactions. "Yeah."

His confession was met with silence. _Silence._ He had just told them the biggest secret he'd ever had, and none of them were speaking. Damnit, he hoped they'd be good about it. He couldn't stand being alienated by his friends.

The silence was minutes long, and nobody seemed to want to break it, but finally Yugi did. "Jou, tell us the whole story. Start from the beginning."

* * *

It didn't take long for Seto to say to Mokuba, "We're leaving." Mokuba didn't look surprised, just disappointed.

"I thought that you'd talk to your friends for a little longer."

"Those _people_ are not my friends," Seto glared at the ground.

As they stepped into the waiting limo, Mokuba said, "But Jou was there."

Seto froze. "So?"

"Well…_he's_ your friend."

"What makes you say that?" He hoped his apprehension couldn't be detected by his younger brother. Thankfully, it wasn't.

"It's obvious. You have nicknames for each other – "

"We _insult_ each other. There's quite a difference."

"I don't think 'puppy' is much of an insult, Seto."

Seto opened his mouth to reply scathingly again, but this time, he found he had no comeback. Mokuba smiled.

"See Seto? You guys are friends. You just don't want to admit it."

Thank the gods Mokuba was still young. Otherwise he might have arrived at the truth. Luckily, he just continued speaking, but Seto was shocked now to hear a friendship speech emitting from his brother's mouth. A _friendship speech!_ He made a mental note never to encourage Mokuba to befriend Anzu. The results could be fatal.

" – it's great you've got a friend, now you can make even more friends! It's so much healthier than being on your own all the time – "

Seto tried to shut out his brother's voice, but failed miserably.

" – and then maybe you could find yourself a girlfriend – "

_What!_

"What!" he voiced his thought loudly, staring at Mokuba with widened eyes. "What did you just say?"

If Seto yelled at someone, instinct would tell that person to run away, fast. But Mokuba was devoid of this instinct.

"You know," he said casually. "Now that you're okay with having friends, you can find a girlfriend as well!"

"I most certainly can _not!"_

"Why?"

"Because I run a company, and I have no time to waste doing pointless things like inviting girls over and kissing them!"

"You had time yesterday for Jou."

"That was an exception. I was – " Seto stopped, aghast. Had Mokuba just told him that he had time yesterday to _invite Jou over and kiss him? How did he know? Had he seen it somehow?_ And now what was Seto supposed to say? _'I didn't invite him. But you're right, I did kiss him.' _He would rather rot in hell. "It wasn't what you think," he said quickly.

Mokuba frowned. "Then what was it?"

"There was absolutely nothing in that kissing!"

…

…

"…what?"

Obviously enough, Seto had misinterpreted what Mokuba had said about having time yesterday. He had been referring to the inviting over part, and had disregarded the kissing part completely.

And Seto had just told him…_Oh, shit,_ the brunette thought in horror. _No, no, I didn't…_

"You…you kissed Jou?"

Seto's brain chose that moment to pack up and go on vacation; leaving him unfortunately frozen, without any kind of response.

"But…why would you kiss another guy?"

Crap.

Beyond crap.

How did he get himself into this mess?

"Seto?"

What was he supposed to say?

"Tell me, Seto."

Could he? Could he really tell his brother the whole story?

"Tell me."

A sinking, horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, Seto gathered up the strength to tell Mokuba everything. Well, maybe not _everything_ – the scene in the kitchen yesterday could be excluded. He wasn't going to contaminate his brother's mind _that_ much.

Avoiding all eye contact with the raven-haired boy, Seto began his story.

* * *

Oh, Mokuba, how this fanfic has polluted your mind…and don't tell me his reaction was unrealistic. He's, what, twelve? Come on! You think Seto gave him a birds and bees talk?

By the way, I'm not an Anzu-hater. I know a few people who could do with a good friendship speech sometimes. It's just been more convenient to leave her out for a while…she will return. But she's not a big part.

And Otogi? Trust me, he will appear!

Please review!


	13. Confessions Part 2

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh - and this chapter to school holidays, which led me to discovering that this fantabulous show is once again on TV here.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

Additional pairings? Ok…YamixYugi, RyouxBakura, MalikxMarik, and once Otogi comes in…I'm sure we all know where HE fits!

Yay! Holidays! For the first time in ages, I've been home late enough in the mornings to watch cartoons – and I discovered that while I thought Yugioh had gone off the air here, it has in fact BEEN BROUGHT BACK! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM!

Anyway…I procrastinate so much in writing, but I'm focusing a lot of energy into this story – something that readers of my other main story will not be happy about. I haven't updated that one in a very long time. Oh well…I'm really happy at the great response I've been getting from all you reviewers! You guys rock!

Otogi shall come soon….it's only a matter of me deciding when the right time is…not this chapter, because it's too long already…not next chapter, because that one's exclusively Jou and Seto, if you know what I mean ;) …Perhaps the chapter after that?

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 13: Confessions Part 2

During the trip home, Mokuba was trying to understand exactly what his brother was telling him. Seto had done his best to explain what had gone on over the past week, in a way that made the story more suitable for a child.

"…so Jou kissed you on Wednesday?"

"Yes."

"And when he came over yesterday you kissed again?"

"Yes."

"So…what you're saying is…" the raven-haired boy said, "You're – gay?"

Seto had expected Mokuba to deduce as much, although he wasn't sure his younger brother understood the full implications of the word. For one thing, Mokuba hadn't even been informed of the basics of heterosexuality, let alone homosexuality. For an eighteen-year-old and a twelve-year-old, the situation meant very different things.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that just yet, Mokuba. A few kisses doesn't determine one's orientation."

"Oh." It was obvious that Mokuba didn't know what the word 'orientation' meant in that sense. But he pretended he did anyway. "Well…do you _like_ Jou?"

"I couldn't say." He wasn't lying to Mokuba; really, he was lying to himself. As a businessman, frequently in the public eye, he knew the consequences of being gay in today's society more than anyone, and wanted to avoid that situation for as long as possible. He had almost made himself really believe that he didn't know whether he liked Jou or not.

"Are you going to see him again?" Mokuba asked.

"Naturally, as we are in the same classes, it would be difficult not to see him."

"You _know_ what I mean."

Seto thought about this. It hadn't really occurred to him before. Was Mokuba suggesting he date the puppy? That would be quite a big step…his brother had accepted the truth easily enough, but would the rest of Japan be so understanding?

He said to Mokuba, "We shall see."

* * *

"…and yesterday…well, I guess I just had ta know for sure what was happenin'," Jou recounted. The others had been listening intently for quite some time now, keen to know what had caused the relationship between two supposed enemies. "I went ta his place…we talked a bit…then things – just – got a little outta hand."

Honda quickly stuck his fingers in his ears. "Okay, Jou, we get the picture! We don't need details of your little make out session!" He was getting some very disturbing mental images from this.

"Yeah – well then – that's about it," finished Jou. Now it was all out in the open, all that was left to do was see their reactions. They didn't seem to take it too badly.

Ryou was first to speak. "I can't believe that this all started only five days ago. Last week you and Kaiba were arch enemies!"

"Still," said Marik thoughtfully, "isn't that a quote from Romeo & Juliet? _'My only love sprung from my only hate,'_ or something?"

This was met with silence, in which everyone gave him a look that clearly said, "Why the hell were _you_ reading Shakespeare?" Once the question was actually posed, he gave some hurriedly thought up response that fooled no one. Marik liked poetry – that would be something to blackmail him with later.

"I suppose Marik's right in a way," Bakura shrugged. "Even if two people _do_ hate each other, that's no guarantee they will forever. Love-hate relationships happen a lot, and can turn out pretty damn good. Can't they, hikari?" he added, grinning slyly at Ryou, who blushed a little.

"We're trying to help Jou here," he reminded Bakura.

"Right, right…so have you two gone out yet?"

Jou blinked. "Gone out?"

"Yeah, you know, as in, gone out on a _date_," Malik said pointedly. "That's what most couples do."

"Yeah, I know what it – er, no, we haven't."

"Are you going to?" asked Yugi.

Jou hadn't thought of this. Were he and Seto a 'couple' enough to actually go out on a proper date? What did you do on a date with a guy? The same as you would with a girl? Would Seto even _want_ to go out with him? So many questions…at no point over the last five days did it occur to Jou that he might be getting a _boyfriend_ out of this; so far he had just been responding to whatever emotions came over him, disregarding all consequences. Did he really want Seto to be his boyfriend?

"Uh…I dunno."

Marik raised his eyebrows. "You don't know?"

"Well, it's not like we talked it out or anything. _Should _I know?"

"Well it's not that hard a question," said Bakura. "It just comes down to, why don't you go ask him out?"

Jou blanched. "I can't just do that!"

"Why?" said the others in unison.

"Because – because – how could I?"

"Just ask him if he'd like to go to dinner or something with you," Ryou suggested calmly. "You've been on heaps of dates, Jou, this one's no different."

_Oh, yep, I can see the similarity._ "I just…dunno if I wanna do this yet. You said it yourself…five days ago we were enemies."

"Time doesn't matter," said Yugi. "You can know someone for years and never know how you feel about them. You should be happy that you're realising this now, instead of when it's too late."

Jou nodded slowly. "I guess so…"

"And wouldn't you regret it if you didn't do anything at all?"

Yugi sure knew how to convince someone.

"Yeah, I guess I would."

Honda was looking faintly puzzled by something. "You know, Yugi," he said slowly, "you never did tell us what happened…with you and Yami."

Yugi blushed, but with everyone now looking at him, he couldn't escape the situation. "It's nothing, really…"

"Come on!" said Bakura keenly. "I want to know what the Pharaoh's been up to!"

"Yeah, come on Yuug, tell us."

Yugi gulped. "Really, it's nothing. I mean, all that happened was, I came home one night after going on a date with – someone – "

"Who?" Malik asked abruptly.

"A-Anzu," Yugi avoided eye contact. Only a few weeks ago, he and Anzu tried going out, but it wasn't long before they realised they were better suited as just friends. But if Yami had something to do with it…this could be interesting.

"And – Yami was still up, he asked me how it went. I told him…I told him that it felt weird being with Anzu as more than friends. I said – I probably wanted to end it and go back to the way things were. But I wasn't sure how easy that was going to be. So Yami and I ended up talking for a while…about how I could do it, and then, about love in general."

Everyone was quiet; they were all very interested to hear this story.

"You know how I said just before – you can know someone for years and years without knowing how you feel about them?" They all nodded. "Well, he said that to me. Pretty cryptically, at the time, but then I asked him…"

"What?" said Jou.

Yugi sighed, still blushing. "I – I asked him if he'd ever been in that position. Loving someone, but only realising it after years of knowing them. And – he said…'I'm in that position right now.' I asked if he could tell me about it, but he just said it was complicated. I said – I said, 'How could it be so complicated that I couldn't understand?' And then…then he just reached over towards me and we – "

He trailed off. But everyone understood what had happened: Yami had kissed Yugi.

"So what happened after that?" asked Honda curiously.

With a little shrug, Yugi answered, "Nothing, really. Anzu and I broke up a few days later. Yami didn't mention what happened for almost a week, and even then he just said he was sorry for putting me in that position. We haven't talked about it since – he's been a little more quiet than usual."

"Yeah, well, after confessing his unrequited love for his other half, he would be a bit quiet," said Marik, uncharacteristically softly.

"Gods, Marik, why are you being so poetic today?" Bakura rolled his eyes. "Myself, I don't see what the Pharaoh's problem is. I've confessed my love for my hikari, you've confessed yours for your hikari – what makes _him_ so different?"

"This _is_ different," argued Ryou. "All situations with love are different. For one thing, Yugi hasn't said if he feels the same way."

Bakura blinked in surprise. "You know, you're right. You're so smart, Ryou. That's why I love you." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the boy's.

Honda gave a loud, false cough, which meant, 'Get a room,' even if he didn't say it.

"Yugi, _do_ you feel the same way about Yami?" Malik asked. Yugi frowned slightly.

"I – I don't know. I was just shocked at the time, and I wasn't really thinking about that. But I'm pretty sure now that I'm gay. Or bi. Probably bi."

Jou nodded. Suddenly it surprised him that while questioning his own sexuality, the possibility that he was bi didn't occur to him. Being gay just seemed to fit more for him.

"But with Yami…I mean, I love Yami, for sure, but just – not necessarily in that way," Yugi explained. He seemed rather relieved to get all his secrets off his chest.

"Are you going to talk to him about it?" Honda asked.

"I don't know…" Yugi said, shaking his head. "Whatever happens, I'm sure it'll be for the best. And not just for me. Jou, good luck with Kaiba – I mean Seto."

"Thanks, Yugi."

"You really should ask him out," Ryou said encouragingly, while locked in an embrace from his Yami. "Yugi was right, if you don't do anything, you'll regret it."

"Thanks," Jou repeated. But inside, he wondered why it always turned out that everything was so much easier said than done.

* * *

I think that's my longest chapter yet…funny that the ones I procrastinate writing the most turn out to be the longest. Although not much happened in that chapter, it was very very relevent. It definitely had to be there. Not to mention we now know what went on between Yami and Yugi…:D

And what Yugi and Ryou have been saying about regretting missed opportunities – that's one of my life mottos. I don't follow many, but I believe that regret is one of the worst emotions there is.

Thank you for reading, and it makes me very happy to read reviews!


	14. PDA's

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to anyone who, like me, has witnessed bad PDA's once too often. Not that there's anything wrong with the Yugioh boys having PDA's! When they do it it's cute! Only when it's…other people, it's not always so good…

Disclaimer: If the Yu-Gi-Oh world was mine, it would be on late at night and definitely not a show that you'd find appropriate for anyone who can't watch R-18+. Oooh, that'd be so cool though! I need a good lawyer that can help me find a way to own Yu-Gi-Oh…

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

The last chapter was a pretty blah chapter, but it had to be there, you know? And I'm writing the small side story of Yami/Yugi too - - I'll post that too, so once it's up, check it out!

ALSO – this chapter gets a little more graphic. It's really tame, but this is just a warning to my friends who have been reading this, who aren't as used to this sort of thing. So you can't say I didn't warn you.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 14: PDA's

Monday morning. Possibly the worst time of the week. Everyone over the age of five gets forced into the five-day-a-week routine, and half of those people have a permanent case of Monday-itis. Jou was a sufferer of said affliction, and, contrary to popular belief, so was Seto.

Mondays were never good. But after this particular weekend, it was hardly going to be an ordinary Monday.

Both the teens were making their way to school, as usual, in very different ways. Seto had just stepped out of the back seat of his limo, and was presently walking through the front gates in that calm, collected manner of his, despite the fact that the bell would ring at any moment. Jou, on the other hand, was sprinting around the corner, fully aware that if he didn't hurry up he'd be late. Picking up as much speed as he could, he tore through the gates, not really aware of his surroundings, until suddenly –

_WHAM!_ Jou gasped as the air was knocked out of him, and he was quick to fall to the ground. He hadn't been watching where he was going, and he wasn't aware of bashing into someone until it had actually happened. As for whom he had bashed into…

"Watch where you're going!"

Jou's discomfort, if possible, increased as he realised whose icy voice that was. He tried to breathe out an apology, but his stomach didn't have enough air yet for that.

Seto winced as his own pain from the impact became evident, but he still turned to glare at the perpetrator, who was lying on the ground. "What do you – " He stopped, seeing for the first time who it was that ran into him. "Oh. Puppy."

As his senses gradually returned to him, Jou managed a scowl. "Ya know, I really hate the dog thing."

"I know," Seto narrowed his eyes a little. "But you deserve it. You _did_ just run straight into me."

"Er…right," Jou's face went a little red. "Uh…sorry 'bout that."

"No permanent harm done." Seto reached down to help the blonde boy up. As his hand clasped Jou's, he felt an intriguing warm sensation pass through him, and even after Jou was on his feet again, he was reluctant to let go. Jou's blush deepened.

"Seto…everyone's watching," he mumbled.

Seto blinked and looked around. Sure enough, people from all directions were staring in surprise at what they had just seen. Because, unless they were very much mistaken, Jou had collided with the CEO, and not only escaped a fight, but apologised, only to be helped up by his enemy. And now it almost looked as though the two were holding hands.

Seto loosened his grip on Jou's hand, but didn't entirely release it. Screw what everyone else thought. He could do what he wanted.

"Coming, puppy?" he said, not leaving Jou much choice since their hands were still together. "The bell's about to ring."

Jou looked stunned at how little Seto was doing to maintain the illusion that they were still enemies. Sure, Jou had no problem with being the centre of attention, but in this situation, things were a little different. Focus on the fact that he was with Seto wasn't something he really wanted.

But if Seto didn't care…

Jou shrugged and walked beside him, their fingers intertwined.

All the onlookers nearly fainted.

* * *

Throughout the whole morning, people shot Jou strange looks. He could hardly blame them; it must have been pretty weird to see two people who hated each other's guts suddenly being nice to each other – more than nice, considering they held hands.

In English, someone passed a note to Jou's desk. It read: _Don't you DARE think of Seto that way. He's MINE. You make any more moves on him and I will get you!_

Ugh. Right. Seto had fangirls. Jou ripped the note in half, hoping that whoever had written it was watching, and he wondered how Seto was being treated.

Even the teachers were behaving differently. They didn't shoot any questions at him like they usually did, and when they spoke to him it was always in a polite, understanding voice. Jou didn't even know any teachers had been watching this morning, but what else would have made them all act in this way?

Since Jou's friends already knew about him and Seto, lunchtime started out relatively normally. Of course, people stared, but by this time Jou learned to ignore them.

"Jou…" Yugi said. "Why does Seto (for Jou's sake, he called him Seto now) still sit alone?"

Jou blinked. "Huh?"

"Well, why doesn't he come and sit with us now?"

_Yeah, why doesn't he?_ Jou frowned. Sitting together would certainly fuel the rumours about them being a couple, but Seto didn't care what people had thought this morning…so why now?

"I dunno, Yuug…I'll ask him." Jou stood up, and approached the table at which Seto sat alone.

Seto composed himself as Jou walked towards him. The blonde's expression was awkward, and for a brief moment he wondered why, before realising that Jou probably didn't know how to act with him around other people.

_Funny, I wouldn't have pictured him as one to care what others thought of him._

Seto saw that Jou's group of friends were watching from their table. They didn't look in the least surprised – had Jou told them the whole story?

The blonde shuffled slightly on the spot. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hello puppy." Jou didn't even stir at the nickname this time. Probably because it didn't sound nearly as much like an insult as 'mutt' did; it sounded more like a token of affection.

"Seto…I – uh…" He looked over his shoulder at his friends. "You're…sittin' on your own."

"I usually do."

"Well…you don't have to. You can – sit with us if you want."

Seto raised his eyebrows at the offer. "I would have expected your friends to raise some objection to that."

Jou shook his head. "Nah, actually, Yugi was the one who suggested it." He looked back at his table again. "I…told them. Yesterday. About what's been happenin' with us."

So they did know. Seto nodded slowly. "I suspected as much. And they didn't take it too badly?"

"Well, they were shocked, I guess, but they don't have any problems with it."

"Good. Mokuba didn't either."

Jou blinked. "You told your _brother_?" he said incredulously.

"It would have reached him eventually. Now, I believe you were offering me a seat at your table?"

Seto followed Jou back to where his friends were sitting. Stares and murmurs followed them from every table they passed – Seto Kaiba was going to sit with other people! Something was definitely going on between him and Jounouchi…were the rumours true about them?

Jou seated himself opposite Bakura, and Seto took the spot next to him. The CEO was surprised to find that he was being treated exactly the same as all the rest of them, like he had been their friend all along. Although he spent little time talking and more time listening, he had been welcomed wholly into the conversation by all of them.

Inevitably, it seemed, the talk turned to him and Jou.

"You sure know how to start rumours," Malik said. "I've never seen so many people all talking about the same thing. 'Did you see them hold hands this morning? Is it true that they're a couple?'"

"Even _we_ didn't get that much publicity when Bakura decided it was a good idea to practically molest me in the hall last year," said Ryou, causing Bakura to grin.

"You _know_ you enjoyed it…" he said slyly, before turning to Jou. "So what's it like kissing a millionaire?"

Jou's face reddened, and so did Seto's, but Bakura was unrelenting.

"Come on…don't make me truth or thruth it out of you…what's it like?"

"I have to – " Jou stood up hastily. " – go to the bathroom." He rushed off quickly, before Bakura could get his answer. Seto sat there in silence for a moment, before being elbowed in the side by Marik.

"What are you waiting for? Follow him!"

Although Seto didn't see the point, he didn't really want to be left at the table without Jou there too. So he did as Marik told him, and went off in the same direction as the blonde.

* * *

The bathroom was unoccupied, save for Jou, so Seto could approach him easily. He was still blushing – and Seto couldn't help but notice that he looked extremely cute that way.

"Bakura's embarrassing," Jou said flatly. Seto shrugged.

"He never struck me as the type to say anything except for exactly what's on his mind."

Jou laughed. "True. But he still didn't have ta ask me that in front of everyone."

"So if no one else had been listening, you would have answered?"

"Maybe."

"What would you say?"

Seto stepped towards Jou, a slight smirk on his face. Jou didn't back away, but the red in his face grew, if possible, a shade darker.

Like Bakura, Seto wasn't going to back down from his question. He moved even closer to Jou. "What would you tell him it was like kissing a millionaire, puppy?"

Jou hesitated, then looked around to make entirely sure they were alone. Then, instead of answering, he reached up and pulled Seto into a fiery kiss.

Seto closed his eyes, returning the kiss with fervour. Almost straight away, this simple kiss wasn't enough, so Seto acted by pressing his tongue up to Jou's lips, requesting entrance. Gladly received, his tongue then moved about inside the blonde's mouth; tasting everything he had to offer. Subconsciously, his hands had also snaked their way beneath Jou's shirt, feeling his toned chest beneath them.

Jou did nothing to stop the moan of pleasure that came from him as he submitted himself to Seto, and his own hands found the brunette's waist. Said brunette groaned with desire, pulling Jou even closer, and at the same time backing him against a wall. Jou gasped for air as their kiss was finally broken, but that air soon left him again as Seto's passionate tongue's administrations lowered to his collarbone. He barely suppressed a shudder as the heat of his longing rushed south in the form of an erection.

Gods know he wanted this. He wanted Seto to take him here and now. Except he couldn't…he had to stop this…

"Se – Seto," he gasped. "We – can't. Not – here…"

Seto paused, not understanding what Jou meant. Then, he groaned in frustration as he remembered that they were in a school bathroom, where anyone could walk in at any time. If they had been anywhere else…he wouldn't have cared. But Jou was right; they had to stop. Reluctantly he released his puppy.

"Next time, Jou. Next time…"

"When?" Jou said. Seto looked at him, frowning slightly.

"When what?"

"When's next time?" Jou spoke quickly, in case he lost his nerve. "I mean, we should make this official, ya know…like, go on a date or something."

A hint of a smile came over Seto's face. "Are you asking me out, puppy?"

"Well…yeah," Jou said, and like before, he was blushing. Why was this making him so nervous? He knew Seto liked him, just look at the position they had been in only moments before…

"Well, thank you. I accept."

* * *

YAAAAY! He finally asked Seto out! He has a brilliant way of avoiding answering questions, doesn't he?

First it was a sandwich, then it was the fact that they were in a school bathroom…it's not fair, is it! Why does something always have to ruin the moment!

Also, I know that I keep referring to Seto as 'brunette' when it should be 'brunet', but old habits die hard…I'm just so much more used to it this way. Sorry if it annoys/confuses anyone.

Please review!


	15. The Calling Word

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to everyone who's said to me, "WHERE'S OTOGI?"

Disclaimer: If the Yu-Gi-Oh world was mine, it would be on late at night and definitely not a show that you'd find appropriate for anyone who can't watch R-18+. Oooh, that'd be so cool though! I need a good lawyer that can help me find a way to own Yu-Gi-Oh…

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

…You know, I think I might FINALLY introduce that little character that we're all waiting for this chapter…I'm sure you know who I mean!

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 15: The Calling Word

Jou returned to the lunch table, alone and flushed with excitement. Seto was still in the bathroom, having not yet dealt with the "problem" that their make out session had left him with. By now Jou had completely forgotten what had made him leave the table in the first place.

But Bakura instantly reminded him. "You were gone a while, Jou. You and Kaiba just have sex in a toilet?"

Marik snickered. "Like _you've_ never done that?" Ryou blushed considerably, and Honda gaped at him.

"What, a _school_ toilet?"

Yugi coughed loudly to indicate that he wanted to change the topic. "I don't want to hear about Ryou and Bakura's sex life!"

"Too right you don't," Bakura grinned. "We want to hear about _Jou's_ sex life! Tell us, Jou. How was it? Your first time, right?"

Jou was too proud of himself to even be embarrassed. "We didn't do anything," he lied fluently (although, compared to what Bakura was thinking, he _hadn't_ done anything). "But…well – I…"

"What?" said Yugi.

"I…"

"_What?"_ said Malik.

A grin spread across Jou's face. "I officially just got myself a date!"

The others gasped and laughed, all extremely happy for him. And he was pretty happy himself.

Jou couldn't believe that two days ago he had been worried that they would take the news that he was gay and liked Seto the wrong way. What was he thinking? And now they were all here, ecstatic about the fact that he had asked Seto out. Could it get better?

* * *

Back in the bathroom, Seto stared at his slightly flushed reflection. Damn, he really needed to get a hold of his hormones; if he couldn't keep his hands off Jou every time they were alone together, they were bound to find themselves in some sticky situations – no double entendre intended.

So Jou had asked him out. A smile played about his lips; he hadn't expected the puppy to take charge like that. Even in something so small, being in control was _Seto's_ job.

"Dogs shouldn't lead their masters," he murmured to his reflection.

"Well, that's what a collar and leash are for," a voice behind him said suddenly. "Or aren't you guys into that stuff just yet?"

Seto jumped, and whirled around. A boy with long black hair, held up in a loose ponytail, was standing there, smirking at him. Seto felt the heat rise up to his face, but he managed to keep his expression icily neutral.

"I know you," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "You're the creator of that game…"

"Glad to see one CEO recognises another," the other boy said, his jade eyes flashing in amusement. "Name's Otogi, but you probably won't remember it. Just like you didn't remember that you really shouldn't have sex in a public place."

_Shit. _"Were you – "

"No, thankfully. I was _about_ to come in, when I heard some," Otogi's smirk returned, "rather _strange_ noises coming from inside. It didn't seem safe, so I waited outside. Unfortunately for me, there's an echo in here so I heard everything anyway."

Seto was by now so red that it seemed all the blood in his body had rushed up into his head. He didn't remember ever getting embarrassed like this before.

"We didn't do anything," he defended himself weakly, causing Otogi to laugh.

"Don't I know it. _"Seto, Seto, we can't! Not here!"_" he said, imitating Jou (and, Seto had to admit, doing a pretty good job of it). "So it's true, you guys are a couple?" Seto said nothing. "I heard rumours that you two were kissing passionately at the gate this morning, but I didn't believe it."

Seto shook his head in disbelief as he turned away from Otogi, towards the mirror again. Honestly, spreading rumours had to be one of the stupidest activities on earth.

But the green-eyed boy wasn't done yet. "I thought Jounouchi was straight for sure. He never let on that he swung that way. What is that, everyone in their entire group gay now?"

"What's it to you?" demanded Seto, glaring at Otogi's reflection in the mirror.

"Just curious, Kaiba, just curious," he smiled. "Though if I _did_ have some secret motive, I wouldn't be likely to tell you. It wouldn't stay secret very long. After all, I know for a fact that you're a very _loud_ person."

Seto mentally cursed the boy behind him. Screw whatever motives he had. Just make him go away!

As if Otogi could hear his thoughts, he sighed overdramatically and walked towards the door. "Well, I can see when _I'm_ not wanted. But I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again." He smirked one last time. "Good luck on that _date_ of yours."

_Gods,_ thought Seto, after Otogi left. _Of all the annoying people that could come in…he had to be the worst.

* * *

_

Later that evening, Seto was, unsurprisingly, in his office at Kaiba Corp. Hard to believe, but even thought he now had not only a boyfriend, but a whole group of people treating him as a friend, he still had his company to attend to.

_Stock, up…revenue, up…_nothing interesting. For a brief moment, he wondered if it was worth telling his employees he was dating a guy just for something exciting to happen. Then he wondered if he was losing his mind.

Suddenly, his desk phone rang. Assuming it to be some associate businessman, he answered with the formal, "Kaiba Corporations. Seto Kaiba, CEO."

"Geez, Seto, ya gotta let your workers know that you've got a life outside of the office!"

He blinked. "Puppy?"

"I had ta argue with your secretary for fifteen minutes before she put the call through to you!"

"Why?" Seto frowned into the phone. He heard Jou snort over the other end.

"'Cause she didn't believe me when I said you were a friend from school! Soon as I said the word 'friend' she thought I was lying!"

Seto wondered whether he should tell Jou that he had fired his last front desk woman for putting a call through from a supposed 'friend' of his – who turned out to be a rabid fan girl. He decided against it.

"I'll inform her that any calls from you can be put through immediately in future. But why did you call? I assume it's not a business matter."

"Well, I didn't have ya home number, so I thought I'd be better off ringin' your office. Easier to find in the phone book," Jou explained. "But I'm callin' about our date."

Seto felt a pang of worry. Surely Jou wasn't having second thoughts already? "What about it?"

"Well, what are we doing, exactly?"

With an inaudible sigh of relief, Seto said, "I thought that was the asker's responsibility."

"Yeah, well, I suck at planning. You gotta help."

He smiled slightly. "Very well, puppy, I'll help a little…first of all, when? Thursday?" Thursday was three days later; an appropriate-sounding length of time away.

But Jou's voice sounded awkward. "Uh…not Thursday. Can't do Thursdays. Any other time."

Seto felt curious at the blonde's uncomfortable tone, but didn't inquire. "Wednesday, then? After school?"

"Yeah," Jou agreed quickly. "That's good. And – what're we doing?"

"That's for you to know and for me to find out, puppy."

"What!"

"You heard me, this is for _you_ to plan."

"No fair, Seto!"

"All's fair in love and war," Seto said without thinking, then he widened his eyes and almost dropped the phone in realisation of what he had just said. No, it had just slipped out…he didn't know the implications of that…oh, gods, had he really just said that?

Had he just used the _L_-word?

* * *

Right across the other side of Domino, Jou froze. Had Seto just said what he _thought_ he said? No…he can't have…even if he did, it was probably just an accident…nothing was meant by it…

Should Jou make a big deal of it? Had Seto meant that, or was it just a slip-up in words? Surely he didn't _really…_no, it _was_ an accident…Jou would just have to pretend he hadn't noticed anything…

"A'right, Seto. You win. I'll think of somethin'."

A hesitant pause, then, "Okay, puppy. So – see you tomorrow, then?"

"Right. See ya." Guiltily, Jou hung up the phone. He felt bad for ignoring what Seto had said, but what else could he have done? He'd been backed into a corner, one that had very few escapes. Considering the millions of stupid responses he _could_ have given, he thought pretending he hadn't noticed had been quite a good one. But if Seto had meant it…

Perhaps he shouldn't think about it too much. Stuff always sounds worse when it's played back in your head. Worry about it tomorrow.

He picked up the phone again, and dialled another number. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Mutou residence." Jou started at the familiar voice that he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Yami? Is that you?"

"Jou?"

"Yeah! Hey, haven't heard from you in a while."

"I've…" Yami sounded hesitant. "…had other things on my mind."

Jou raised his eyebrows pointedly, even though Yami couldn't see him. "Ya mean, like what happened with you and Yugi?"

"…he told you?" The ex-Pharaoh's voice was worried.

"Yeah, he did. And you know, _you_ can always talk to me about it too. Ain't healthy to keep things bottled up, you know?"

Yami didn't answer.

"Is Yugi there, Yami?"

"No. He and his grandfather have gone out to eat. I'm alone."

"Good, then you can talk to me now!" Jou wasn't sure why he wanted this, exactly – after all, it hadn't been his original intention when calling (actually, he wanted help deciding what to do on his date) – but what better way to take his mind off his guilt-inducing call to Seto, than by helping out a friend?

"…Jou…it's not that simple…"

"Oh, and _my_ love life is? Have ya heard about what's happened in the last week?"

"Yes…Yugi told me. I'm very happy for you, Jou. But that still doesn't mean…"

"Come on, you think I'm gonna hate you for likin' Yuug?"

For a long time, there was no sound on the other end of the phone. Ten seconds…thirty seconds…a minute…before Yami gave a defeated sigh. "But I don't just _like_ Yugi."

"What d'you mean?" Jou asked.

"I…I love him."

Jou internally cringed at the use of the _L_-word; twice, he had heard it, in such a short space of time.

Now Jou wasn't particularly sentimental – romancey stuff wasn't his forte. He'd never said he 'loved' anyone, except for his sister; hell, it was hard enough for him to admit he _liked_ someone. Why make things harder by saying 'love'? It wasn't as though it _meant_ anything. All it did, in Jou's opinion, was sound so long-term that it made commitment-phobic guys run away scared. And here Yami was, talking about it as though it was a really big deal.

"Okay," Jou said indifferently. "You think I'm gonna hate you for lovin' Yugi?"

"You make it sound so casual." He could tell from the sound of Yami's voice that the ex-Pharaoh was frowning.

"Why not? I mean, it's not like you're dying or anything, right?"

"In a sense."

_In a sense?_ Jou thought, puzzled. _What's that mean?_ Yami sure knew how to make it hard to help someone. Maybe it was best to stick to the cliches. "Okay…have you told him how you feel?"

"No." Jou was surprised at the firmness in Yami's voice as he said that. "I put him in a bad enough position just by kissing him. I'm not about to make it worse."

"But if it's how you really feel – "

"_No._" he repeated. "It's not worth making Yugi uncomfortable just for something that _I_ want."

_Woah. Talk about self-sacrifice._

"But if you love him – " Jou began. 

"Then I won't pressure him into something he doesn't want."

"Yami – " Jou paused, as he heard murmuring in the background of the conversation. "Who's that?" he asked. Yami didn't respond straight away.

"…Jou, I have to go. Yugi and his grandfather are home. Thank you for discussing what I – uh – discussing – that. But my answer's final."

"Oh. Okay, then…see ya."

"Bye."

Jou shook his head. Two phone calls where the L-word had come into play…and he didn't know the first thing about it. He wondered if Seto had realised what he had said on that call, and if he'd take it back next time they saw each other. Or maybe he'd pretend it didn't happen…like Jou did. 

And as for Yami's situation…well, to Jou, it seemed like a simple matter of talking things out with Yugi. But Yami obviously thought that by saying 'love' everything was a shade more serious. But it wasn't – was it?

Jou didn't think so. But then, he'd never been in love, had he?

* * *

Okay, I wrote the majority of this chapter REALLY late at night. When I'm tired, my brain doesn't function very well. But today's the last day of the holidays, and I told myself that I'd update by today, so…yeah…

Hehehe. You know, if you look at everything Yami says in the phone call, it sounds as though Jou's persuading him to sleep with Yugi. Seriously – "I won't pressure him into something he doesn't want", "I put him in a bad enough position just by kissing him, I'm not about to make it worse"…You can tell I'm tired, can't you?

Tomorrow's my BIRTHDAY! I will be officially 15. Unfortunately that means I don't get child price at the movies any more. Damn. Oh well, at least I get presents!

That was a pretty un-story-related comment, wasn't it? I seriously don't have anything to say about this chapter, except that Otogi is finally here…so far his part was a strange one, wasn't it? But do not fret, humiliating Seto wasn't his only role!

The review button's right there…


	16. Monetary

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to everyone who wished me happy birthday in their reviews! Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: If the Yu-Gi-Oh world was mine, it would be on late at night and definitely not a show that you'd find appropriate for anyone who can't watch R-18+. Oooh, that'd be so cool though! I need a good lawyer that can help me find a way to own Yu-Gi-Oh…

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in ages – school just started again. And I have exams coming up. Stupid school. I feel terrible about leaving the story for so long.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 16: Monetary

The rest of Monday night. Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night. It all passed as a blur, as all Jou could think about was his upcoming date.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

He didn't have money, so he couldn't take Seto somewhere expensive. But nor could they go back to his place, because, well, it wasn't the nicest place for a date in the world. He supposed they could just hang out at the park or something, but that wasn't much of a date…Seto would be expecting something really high standard, and Jou didn't want to let him down.

By Wednesday morning at school, he was so desperate for inspiration that he asked every one of his friends_­ _what they thought.

"Just go for a walk around the city at night," Ryou suggested, when Jou asked him in the corridor. "If he really loves you, he won't care about the expense."

The L-word. Pass.

"You could go to a movie, that's cheap," said Malik.

"Maybe…" said Jou, brightening up a little.

Marik smirked. "It's also the best place to give someone a handjob."

Ah. Maybe not.

Bakura recommended going shopping. "Get him a present."

"But I don't have any money," Jou reminded him.

The thief looked confused. "So?"

Oh, right. _Thief_.

And Jou couldn't ask Yugi, because the amethyst-eyed boy was mysteriously absent from school today, which was unusual considering he had a near-perfect attendance record. He must have been really sick to be away. At least Yami could look after him.

Jou glanced over at Seto, who was nearby, and then at the clock. Only a few hours left to figure something out.

* * *

Seto hadn't slept more than a few hours last night; the anticipation of the date was too immense. After so little rest he was normally in a terrible mood, which was why it came as such a shock when he told Mokuba to spend tonight at a friend's house. Just because. Naturally this had prompted an, "Are you feeling all right?" from the younger boy, to which Seto actually smiled.

"Very much so," he replied.

His good mood lasted throughout the whole morning. When he arrived at school, instead of going straight inside and working like he would have done not too long ago, he stayed outside with Jou and his friends and participated actively in conversation. It was remarkable how easily this came to him after so much time spent in isolation.

He had a few different classes to the rest of them today, so after the bell rung he didn't see Jou until lunch. Except for once, in the corridor, he spotted him talking to Ryou – he thought he overheard the word, 'expense', but he didn't particularly take notice. He did notice, however, that when he smiled at Jou, the blonde's eyes widened and he looked worried. That was a little odd.

_Oh well,_ Seto thought. _He's probably just nervous about tonight. _

He looked at his watch. There were exactly four hours and fourteen minutes until the end of school, and he was actually looking forward to it.

Right after lunch was maths, and instead of taking his usual seat in front of Jou, Seto took the seat next to him. Jou looked pleased by the gesture, but reverted soon back to worry. While the teacher wasn't looking, Seto scribbled a note on some scrap paper and handed it to him.

_Is everything all right?_

Jou read it slowly before flashing Seto a grin – but Seto thought it looked very false. Jou wrote something back.

_Yeah, course everything's all right! Excited for tonight?_

_I'm definitely looking forward to it. Are you?_

_Yeah! It'll be great! _

Seto concealed the paper under his books as the teacher walked past them. He wondered why Jou wasn't telling him what the problem was; it was obvious there _was_ something wrong. He tried to create a mental list of possible things it could have been, but there were too many. It could have been anything.

Last lesson for the day – Jou had English, Seto science, so they were at complete opposite ends of the school, and planned to meet afterwards at the school car park. Seto watched the clock tick past every second for fifteen minutes straight before the science teacher asked if he was feeling a bit distracted. Seto just shook his head.

"Good," the teacher said. "Because you can't afford to be distracted today. This is a very important chemistry experiment that is certain to be in your exams…"

As if it mattered how distracted Seto was. He always passed science with flying colours.

"…You'll need a lab partner for this, so I paired up your names before class."

That didn't mean anything either, except that whoever he was partnered with was guaranteed a good mark. The teacher began reading out names, and Seto hoped he wasn't partnered with any psychotic fan girl.

"Seto Kaiba, Ryuuji Otogi."

Otogi? Seto blinked. He knew that name…he groaned audibly as he saw the jade-eyed dice-lover walking over to sit next to him. Suddenly he would have almost preferred the fan girls.

"Nice to see you again, Seto," Otogi said sweetly.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I wish I could say the same for you."

"Oh, not feeling happy, are we? What's the matter?"

They began to set up the experiment, or rather, Seto began to set up the experiment, while Otogi questioned him.

"What's it to you?" Seto growled.

"Nothing at all, Seto…I just find it odd that someone would feel unhappy right before their big date. It starts in about twenty minutes, doesn't it?"

Seto was becoming irritated, both by the questions and by the fact that Otogi called him by his first name. Not just _anyone_ was allowed to do that. "How did you know?" he said quietly.

Otogi gave a sly grin. "I hear _everything_."

"Is that so?" Seto asked nonchalantly, scribbling a few notes in his book about the classwork.

"Oh, yeah. And let me tell you, it's no wonder Jou's nervous!"

Seto stopped writing and glared at him. "What do you know?" Otogi's grin widened and he folded his arms in front of him.

"Well, Seto," he started, prompting the brunette to narrow his eyes at him. "I don't really think I want to tell you…you haven't been very friendly towards me now, have you?"

Seto growled. _He's taunting me,_ he thought in annoyance. _He knows I want to know what's wrong with Jou and he's using it to his advantage. _Normally Seto would have called this a battle of minds, and refused to back down, but right now he just wanted to find out what Otogi knew as quickly as possible.

"What do you want?" he asked. Otogi considered for a moment.

"One favour," he said finally.

"Anything within reason, and in exchange for what you know, I'll make certain that it's done." Though Seto had his doubts about the other boy's definition of, 'within reason'.

"It's quite simple, really," Otogi said slowly. "Tomorrow at lunch, I'm going to sit at your table, with all your friends. And _you_ are going to play nice and accept me, so that they will all do the same."

Seto raised his eyebrows at the odd request. He'd been working at Kaiba Corp for so long, that the requests he usually got were all about money and business partnerships – and, forgetting he was dealing with another teenager here, he had expected something similar in this case. But what Otogi was asking for was easily granted.

"Fine, I'll do it. Now tell me what you've heard."

Otogi's eyes brightened and his smile went from sly to genuine. "I'll hold you to your word, Seto."

"Feel free to. Tell me!" Seto didn't care that he sounded like an impatient child.

"Okay, okay…he's been asking everyone he knows what he should organise for you to do this evening."

"What?" Seto frowned. Otogi nodded.

"He's got no idea what to plan. After all, he's got no money – "

"He's got no money?"

"You never thought that he mightn't be as well off as you?"

Otogi made it sound so obvious. But truthfully, Jou's financial situation had never been top of Seto's list of things to think about, even now. Though he supposed he should have guessed from all the 'moneybags' comments. "Keep going, Otogi."

"Right. Like I said, he's got no money, so he can't take you out anywhere expensive. And his place is no great shakes either, so hanging around there is out. So now he's clueless."

They worked in silence for a minute, until Seto said abruptly, "He thinks I care how expensive it is?"

Otogi raised an eyebrow. "Seto, you're a billionaire. Of _course_ he thinks you care about how expensive it is!"

"But…I…are you sure?"

"I already told you," he said, "I hear everything."

"You seem to be hearing quite a lot about Jou," Seto muttered, a hint of resentment in his voice that caused Otogi to laugh.

"Oh my god, you think I'm after your boyfriend!" he exclaimed, causing the pair at the next table to stare at him. "No thanks, Seto, but Katsuya Jounouchi is _definitely_ not my type."

Seto scowled, only slightly assured by his words. "So what _is_ your type?"

"Tall; brunette," the green-eyed boy replied instantly. He gave Seto a sideways glance, only to see him looking warily alarmed. "And don't jump to conclusions, you idiot! Did I _say_ I meant you? You don't even know if I'm gay!"

Seto relaxed a little, but still felt worried. How could Otogi have said _tall brunette_ without realising the implications that had? Though Seto, of all people, knew about saying things accidentally.

"What should I do about tonight?" he asked, changing the subject.

Otogi shrugged. "Just let him know you don't care about the money?"

"How?"

"Beats me. He's your boyfriend."

Seto scowled at him. Otogi was still annoying. Possibly helpful, but annoying.

* * *

When the bell finally rang, Jou was terrified. He still had nothing, and he was out of time.

Maybe he could pretend he knew what he was doing; think of something right on the spot. But he was already on the spot, wasn't he? And it wasn't doing him any good. Oh gods, he was doomed. Maybe it wasn't too late to cancel the date.

He was in the school car park, where he agreed he would meet Seto, and already he could see the brunette walking towards him amongst the packs of other students. Jou sighed; maybe it _was_ too late. And besides, he couldn't do that to Seto.

"Ready?" the blue-eyed teen asked.

Crap. What was Jou supposed to say to that? 'No'?

"Uh…uh…" Great start. "I…Seto, I…"

Damn. He was completely backed into a corner. He couldn't very well say he _was_ ready now, could he? All that was left now to do was tell the truth.

"Seto, you see – the thing is…well, I dunno how to say it…"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Can I take an educated guess?" Jou nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to say. "You couldn't decide on what we should do, because I'd expect something expensive and you're not sure you can do that?"

Jou's eyes widened, and he blushed. Had it really been that obvious? Seto had known all along?

"S-sorry," he mumbled, looking at the ground. But Seto grabbed his chin and tilted his face upward.

"If I was going out with you for monetary purposes," the brunette said quietly, "then I wouldn't do _this_." And, despite being surrounded by heaps of other students, he pulled Jou in for a fiery kiss. Everyone around watched them, wide-eyed and jaws dropped.

Jou gave a soft sigh as they mutually broke the kiss; Seto definitely knew how to make him feel better, and who cared if it was in front of people?

"Come on," Seto said. "We're still going on this date. Whatever you want to do. And if that involves money, _I'll_ pay for it. But I don't care about the money aspect of dating. The reason I accepted when you asked me out had nothing to do with you paying for anything." He smiled at Jou. "I accepted because it was _you_."

* * *

Aaaaw! Isn't Seto SWEET?

…woah. Sweet is one of those words where if you say it too many times it loses its meaning. 'Sweet'? What a weird word! Just look at it!

And again, I AM SO TERRIBLY SORRY for the lack of update! I blame school! I wish I didn't have to go. Damn laws. I haven't updated ANY of my stories in ages! It's so sad…but I'll try and do better next chapter.

And thanks again to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!


	17. Trying New Things

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to everyone who hates exams as much as I do.

Disclaimer: If the Yu-Gi-Oh world was mine, all my friends would groan and say, "Why doesn't she sell it for lots and lots of money?" And I would yell at them that I wouldn't sell it for any amount…

Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.

Uum…my plan to update sooner kind of backfired…this time, I blame my exams. Well, I blame a lot of things, but mainly the exams.

Hey! The thing that says how many hits my stories have has been WIPED! WIPED, I TELL YOU! This story used to have over 10 000, now it's back to 630! The number of reviews and favourites and things are still the same...what the hell? Anybody understands, please explain it to me. I am confused...

Anyway…right, the story…

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 17: Trying New Things"You have _got_ to be kidding me." 

Seto stared straight ahead, at the front of the place that Jou had chosen. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Please, all gods of this world, say you are kidding me."

Flashing lights. A loud, pulsating beat that shook the ground.

"You said anywhere," Jou grinned.

"I – I know, but – _here?_"

"Yeah, I kinda figured this sorta thing would be new to ya."

_New_ was an understatement. This was alien.

"But…a _night club?_"

"You said anywhere," Jou repeated happily. He tugged Seto's arm like a little kid towards the entrance. "Come on, Seto!"

It was at that moment that the brunette realised that Jou was psychologically identical to Mokuba.

Reluctantly, he gave in and followed the amber-eyed teen inside the club, and what he saw overloaded his system. It was the same noise and sights as outside, only ten times more intense: multicoloured strobe lights made everything move in slow motion, techno music pounded through his body, and the people! He'd never seen such a strange population in his life – everyone, male and female, was scantily clad in leather and other obscene materials; Seto almost felt overdressed compared to them.

Jou was also gaping. "Woah…" he said in awe, though the music drowned out his voice. Seto only caught the stunned expression on his face,

"You've never been to one of these places either!" Seto accused, raising his voice so he could be heard.

Jou looked sheepish. "Uh…I wanted to see what it was like?"

"Puppy!"

"C'mon, Seto, try something new! It'll be fun!"

Seto groaned. "Fine. But I _refuse_ to dance."

"Fine with me, I'm not really a dancer either!" Jou seemed hyperactive. He latched onto Seto's arm again, this time dragging him towards the club's bar. Sitting as far away from the next couple (a man with a spandex-wearing woman on his lap), they each ordered a small shot.

The bartender gave them a suspicious look before demanding for ID. Jou froze, alarmed, but Seto just threw the man a glare icy enough to freeze water, along with a business card. As soon as the man read Seto's name on it, his eyes widened.

"Se – Seto Kaiba?" he stammered. Seto nodded curtly.

"Get us the goddamn drinks." The bartender ran off to do so immediately.

Jou breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

"Being a household name does have its uses." Seto looked slightly amused. "It didn't occur to you that you needed identification to get into these places?" Jou blushed a little, and muttered something about, 'Marik and Bakura never seeming to have any trouble.' Seto snorted; Marik and Bakura probably attacked anyone who denied them anything.

The man behind the bar returned, trembling slightly, two shots glasses in hand. With only a brief exchange of glances, and the slight appearance of money changing hands, the business was done and he retreated to other customers.

Seto and Jou picked up their respective glasses. "To our first date?" Jou suggested as a toast.

"And…to trying new things," Seto added, raising his drink so the two glasses clinked together. And, at the risk of being incredibly sappy, his eyes looked right into Jou's as they drank.

They sat in silence (or, as silent as it _could_ have been inside the club) for a moment before Seto ordered another shot for each of them. "Can you hold your alcohol or am I going to be taking home a drunk puppy tonight?" he teased.

"What makes you think you can drink more than me?" Jou challenged.

"I run a business, if _you_ were in my position, you'd drink a lot too."

"If you were in _my _position – " Jou began to retort, but then stopped himself. He laughed. "We're still fightin'. Just like we used to."

"Glad to know nothing's changed."

They smiled at each other, until the bartender returned with their second lot of drinks, acting like an obedient servant to Seto. Although before walking off again he gave Jou a suspicious look that made the blonde wonder something.

"Ain't ya worried?"

"About what?"

"That guy, with the drinks…he knew who you were. Ain't ya worried that he'll tell people you're with…me?"

Seto frowned. "Why would that worry me?"

"Well…you're as good as famous. What happens if it gets out? If your company finds out?"

He blinked. The blonde actually had a point. What _would_ happen if the people at Kaiba Corp heard he was dating a guy? Maybe they would be disgusted and quit…maybe all the company's stockholders would turn away from him…he could just see the headlines: 'RESPECTED CEO REVEALS ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE'; 'PUBLIC OUTRAGE CAUSES DECLINE IN COMPANY'.

He scowled darkly. No way would he see Kaiba Corp go down like that. "If he knows what's good for him, that man will not say a word." Jou shifted uncomfortably. "But if he doesn't know what's good for him…"

The honey-eyed teen looked uncertain. "Would ya – deny it?"

"No." The short answer was all Jou needed. His face broke out into its usual grin, and he drank his second shot.

"Good."

Seto looked thoughtful for a while, before eventually standing up. When Jou gave him a questioning look, he simply said, "I have to do something quickly."

Jou waited, patient but not entirely comfortable with being left alone. But after a minute, he heard a voice behind him say, "No way…Jou?"

He whipped his head around. "Yugi?"

The short, violet-eyed teen smiled and sat down in Seto's vacated seat. Jou was surprised to see him in a place like this; of all his friends, Yugi was easily the most innocent, and the least likely to come to a night club of his own free will. Although, Jou noted, with his tricoloured hair and black attire, he definitely appeared to fit in with the atmosphere.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I could ask _you_ that," Jou grinned. For some reason, Yugi blushed.

"I asked you first!"

"Well, I asked you second! Besides, ain't ya sick? You weren't at school today."

The boy's face reddened even more. "I – I wasn't sick."

"You skipped?" Jou raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you."

"Well – I – "

"Jou?" said a new voice. Jou looked over, and saw the spirit of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle coming towards them. He was smiling; he looked a lot happier than he had sounded over the phone two nights ago.

Which reminded Jou – Yugi and Yami were both here, did that mean that the whole thing with them kissing had blown over? Had it been forgotten already, even after Yami had confessed to loving the younger boy?

"Hey Yami," Jou greeted. "So, are _you_ gonna tell me what you guys are doing here?"

Yami and Yugi exchanged glances. "Well…" Yami began.

"We're kinda…"

"What?" Jou pressed.

"We're…we'reonadate!" Yugi blurted quickly. But Jou got every word. He gaped and looked at Yami for confirmation, who nodded, a smile still gracing his features.

"I don't believe it…when did this happen?"

"Oh, some time this morning," Yami answered, before ordering a drink of his own.

"Details, guys, tell me the details!"

"NO!" The look-alikes both exclaimed loudly, looking horrified at the thought. But why that was, was a mystery to Jou.

"Why not? What could have happened that you'd need to keep secret?" he pressed. "So you got together this morning, what were ya doing for the rest of today?"

Poor Yugi's face could have rivalled a tomato for colour, and, Jou was amazed to see, so could Yami's. Both were avoiding Jou's questioning gaze, and he knew he wasn't going to get a straight answer.

"There's some things you don't want to hear, Jou, trust me," said Yugi while staring decidedly at the ground.

Jou was about to ask further, but he stopped when he saw that Seto had returned. He gave the brunette a grin before saying, "Yugi and Yami are here!"

"I see that," Seto said with amusement, unable to sit down since Yugi was in his place. "What things don't you want to know?" He had heard that part of the earlier conversation.

Jou rolled his eyes. "I _do _want to know what happened today that made them a couple!"

The blue-eyed teen raised his eyebrows. "You two are a couple now?" he asked Yugi and Yami, who nodded.

"They got together this morning, and Yugi stayed home from school," Jou recapped. "And I wanna know what they've been doing all day."

"Really?" Seto chuckled slightly. _He_ hadn't missed how embarrassed the other teens were at Jou's questions, and he could easily guess what must have gone on at the Game Shop that day. But he didn't say so out loud.

Jou's expression resembled a pout. "Fine. Leave me out of the loop while all of you understand."

The others were only too happy to do just that.

Once the subject was changed, the four spent a long time talking and drinking. They even managed to convince Yugi to have a few, no matter how much the bartender suspected he was only about thirteen years old. Throughout the whole time, Seto appeared distracted; constantly looking around the area of the club for something, or waiting for something, perhaps.

Eventually, after Jou noticed his behaviour for some time, he excused both of them to Yami and Yugi and assured them that they would be back in a minute.

"What's wrong?" he asked Seto. They hadn't gone far, just out to one side of the dance floor.

"What's wrong with what?"

"Seto!" Jou groaned. "Come on, I can tell something's up! What is this, Keep-Secrets-From-Jou Day?"

Seto smirked internally at the idea, but kept his face as impassive as possible. "Be patient, puppy, you'll find out soon enough."

At that precise moment, a man who looked completely out of place amongst the other party goers stepped through the main door. He was dressed in a sharp suit and looked all business-y…a lot like someone associated with Seto. And that fact wasn't lost on Jou.

"D'you know that guy?"

"I might…"

"Seto!"

Seto laughed at the frustrated look on Jou's face. "All right, I know him. Now be a good boy and come and say hello."

The blonde actually growled at him. "I don't know why I still let you get away with the dog stuff." But he followed Seto anyway. "Who is he?"

Seto didn't reply until they reached the businessman, who was standing on the spot and looking as though he was trying not to be shocked at where he was. And when he saw Seto approaching him, he gave a polite nod of the head.

"Mr. Kaiba."

"Lee," Seto greeted in return. He then said to Jou, "This is Lee, my chauffeur. Before, when I left you at the bar, I went outside to call him."

Jou blinked. "Oh." Did this mean that Seto was bored of their date already? "You…want to go home?" He was nervous about the response he might get.

"Actually, I was hoping that we might _both_ go home. To my house."

Funny though Seto calling his mansion a 'house' seemed to Jou, that was hardly the most primary thought in his mind. A few words were repeating themselves in his head, and they were _Seto, invited, me, to, his, _and _place. _And no matter how much he thought about what to say, the only coherent answer he could think of was, "Hell yeah!"

And, just for the hell of it, he threw his arms around Seto's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. It was just lucky that Lee the chauffeur was well trained not to look surprised. After it was over, the three of them headed towards the door, but Jou suddenly stopped.

"Something wrong?" Seto asked.

Jou shook his head. "Not really, I just thought…we should go say bye to Yugi and Yami, shouldn't we?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Seto smirked. He pointed behind Jou, towards the dance floor. "They have plenty to occupy themselves with."

Jou turned to look where Seto was pointing. Sure enough, the tricolour-haired look-alikes were dancing – if you could _call _it dancing. To Jou, it looked more like…grinding…and rubbing…and other things he couldn't believe little innocent Yugi would do.

"Ah," he said. "Maybe you're right."

Outside, Seto's limo was parked right in front of the club, so it took them all of three seconds to get in. Once comfortably seated in the back seat with his boyfriend, Jou grinned. "Now this is luxury."

Seto shrugged. "You can get used to it. The limo's yours whenever you want it."

"Really?" The blonde's eyes lit up. When Seto nodded, Jou positively threw himself on him. It fascinated him every time he found something new in the brunette's personality…in this case, an ability to share. He didn't know how many other pleasant surprises he was in for now that he'd opened up this new side of the CEO.

He was now effectively sitting in Seto's lap, which meant that with every movement he made, he gave the brunette a little spasm of discomfort in his nether regions. But he was oblivious.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, completely unaware that Seto was fidgeting restlessly. "None of you ever told me what Yugi and Yami were up to all day."

Seto swallowed his discomfort and managed a chuckle. "I'm surprised _you _haven't figured it out."

But Jou looked puzzled, so the other teen decided to give him a hint. He placed one hand on Jou's shoulder, and ever-so-lightly trailed his fingers from there down to his chest. Then they scaled further down, past his stomach, and stopped only inches above the waistline of his pants. Only at a snail's pace did Seto keep going until his fingers were delicately touching the material right on Jou's crotch area, but when he did, the blonde took a sharp intake of breath – both at the sensation, and at the fact that he finally understood.

"No way…" he said, looking shocked. "They were – they were – _Yugi_ was…?" A blush rose to his face.

"Mm-hm," Seto murmured, his other hand up around Jou's hair, flicking it out of the way of his amber eyes.

"I don't believe it…no way…" Jou shook his head, then frowned as though thinking. "Yugi got outta school for _that?"_

Seto laughed and instead of replying, captured the blonde's lips with his own. At the same time he boldly increased the pressure of his fingers on Jou's crotch, making the other gasp. He then seized the opportunity for his tongue to steal its way into Jou's mouth, and the blonde was powerless to refuse…not that he wanted to.

How long they stayed in this position, not even they knew. But it seemed all too soon when the limo rolled to a standstill and Lee announced that they had arrived at the Kaiba mansion. At first Seto was irritated at the interruption, but he soon realised that this would be the first time he had _really_ been alone with his puppy. And he intended to make the most of it.

"Coming?" he asked rhetorically; Jou nodded anyway. "Come on, then. Straight upstairs. My room."

* * *

Oh gods, chapter 17 is finally done…that had to be the worst case of writer's block in the history of the Earth. In the history of this fic, anyway.

Apologies if this chapter wasn't very up to scratch. Do you get the feeling that the longer it takes you to write something, the worse you end up thinking it is? I always feel that way.

Well…I hope you enjoyed anyway!


	18. Being a VIP in the Kaiba Mansion

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba (now Hikari M666)

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to basically everyone who's reading this. How you put up with my writer's block, I'll never know.

Disclaimer: Owning Yugioh is just my wishful thinking, I'm afraid. If I did…mm…there would be a lot of hot Ryou/Bakura sex going on…excuse me while I imagine things with my dirty, dirty mind…

It's the last day of my holidays. I'm FORCING myself to post this chapter. Must….type…

This chapter contains a **lemon**. Actually, this chapter _is_ a lemon. Hehe. Just so you know!

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 18: Being a VIP in the Kaiba Mansion

It was amazing how different the Kaiba mansion seemed when one was dating its owner. The first time Jou had been inside, everything was so ominous and intimidating because of its richness, but now it all seemed softer…inviting, even. As though he were now a VIP somewhere exclusive and dangerous to outsiders.

But he barely had time to notice this as behind him, Seto slammed the front door and without hesitation spun him around into a deep kiss. It was the sort of kiss that made his legs feel like they would fall beneath him, causing him to collapse right on top of Seto – which, honestly, he wouldn't have minded doing. He wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, pulling himself in even closer.

Seto felt that Jou's lips were parted a tiny fraction, and he took advantage of that by slipping his tongue into the blonde's mouth. He explored it for a while, before deliberately nudging Jou's tongue, coaxing it to move around as well. Soon both of their focus was entirely on the battle for dominance going on inside their mouths; everything around them was just a blur.

Luckily though, Seto could multi-task. His hands were down around Jou's waist, subtly pushing his shirt up while he was distracted by the kiss. Jou didn't notice until the shirt was up to his shoulders, and when he did, he moved his arms from Seto's neck and helped get rid of the offending article. Once it was off it was tossed into a corner somewhere. Neither paid attention to where.

Through their kisses, they incoherently stumbled towards the stairs. Jou was unlucky enough to be walking backwards when they reached them, so he tripped over the first one, pulling Seto with him, and landing quite painfully.

"Agh, sorry!" he hissed, back sore from the impact. Seto shook his head and stood up again.

"My fault." Then he smirked. "Now get up before I have to drag you on a leash."

Jou's jaw dropped. The dog comments had reached an all-time low! But even at the risk of seeming like a canine obeying his master's command, he scrambled to his feet.

"Good boy," Seto said mockingly, following it with a kiss to silence any angry retort Jou had.

Somehow – _somehow_ – they managed to get halfway up the staircase. When they reached that point, Jou realised with some irritation that whilst he was completely topless, Seto hadn't even had his coat removed. That had to change right now, didn't it? Jou tossed the coat over the banister and couldn't even be bothered getting off the stairs before working on Seto's shirt as well. The shirt was a button-up so Jou tore at each button quickly; so quickly that he nearly ripped some of them out of their place.

"Watch it," Seto warned, though by the tone of his voice one could tell he didn't care _what_ Jou was watching. "I'm not buying a new shirt."

Jou snorted as he opened the last button before tugging the shirt off Seto's shoulders. "Stingy bastard," he muttered under his breath, grinning. Seto heard him and narrowed his eyes in mock offence.

"Rabid mutt."

"Selfish rich-boy."

"Third-rate duellist."

"Friendless pretty-boy."

"Pretty boy? Why thank you," Seto said, before pulling Jou up another few stairs.

"What? No! I didn't mean it as a good thing!"

"Oh, I'm crushed. If you hate me so much, you're welcome to leave."

"Shut up!" Jou pulled Seto into another searing kiss.

It took them a while, but they finally reached the top of the staircase. Jou was in front of Seto, so he tried to find his own way to an appropriate room (preferably a bedroom of some sort), but he hadn't taken into consideration just how many rooms the mansion had. This corridor must have had a dozen doors on each side!

He took a stab in the dark and picked one. To his relief, it was a bedroom that looked like it belonged to Seto – large, neat, a pale shade of blue, and with a computer against the wall – but the brunette pulled him away.

"No," Seto said firmly, closing the door again.

"But I – "

"_No_."

Jou flushed, confusion and a bit of hurt evident on his face. He wished he could read Seto's expression as easily. "I – I thought you wanted to…" He left the sentence hanging, embarrassed.

"_Not,_" Seto sounded serious and incredulous at the same time, "in _Mokuba's _room."

Jou gaped. "_Mokuba's_ – oh, shit."

He always managed to do something to mortify himself beyond belief.

Seto acted as though nothing had happened. "Try this one." He directed Jou further down the hallway and into another room, and upon seeing its interior the blonde couldn't help but gasp.

This one was Seto's room. There was no doubt about it. True, it was a bit darker than Jou would have guessed, but everything about it just screamed Seto. A broad window fitted in the far wall, covering most of its expanse, lined by navy blue curtains; a desk sat in one corner, bare except for a few papers; another door led to a walk-in wardrobe and private bathroom; and the bed…it caught the eye immediately. What the covers were made of, Jou couldn't be sure, but they were definitely some sort of exquisite material he'd never seen before, and they were deep imperial purple.

Jou couldn't help but walk over and touch them. They felt soft and cool beneath his fingers. "Nice," he said simply.

Seto nodded. "In a lot of ancient places, purple was the colour of royalty." He smirked. "I thought it was fitting."

"Arrogant pig."

"Like I said, if you hate me so much you're welcome to leave."

"If you want me out, you're gonna have to kick me out yourself!" Jou crossed his arms over his bare chest and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well," Seto considered thoughtfully. "I _could_…but you're in such a convenient position for me to do _this_."

He leaned over Jou, pushing him onto his back forcefully. The blonde squirmed a bit, but not enough to make it seem as though he was actually putting up a fight. Seto's hands were holding down his shoulders and he was straddling Jou's legs comfortably.

"Seto?" Jou murmured.

"Mm?"

"Kiss me."

Seto was only too happy to do so, but while he claimed Jou's lips his hands stole down to the front of the blonde's pants. Even through the material, it was obvious that Jou was getting extremely aroused, and unsurprisingly, Seto was the same. So he didn't waste any time in unfastening Jou's jeans and his own, leaving them only in their boxers.

Jou shivered as his body was hit by cool air. "Seto – this is – I'm – "

"What?" Seto asked, before trailing his mouth along Jou's jaw line.

"Oooh…nothing…just – take me."

Seto smiled; a real, genuine smile that wasn't seen every day. Hearing Jou say those words…it was the ultimate show of trust for him. And he had no intention of breaking that.

"If that's what you want," he whispered in Jou's ear. "I seem to recall hearing Bakura say you hadn't done this before."

"Uh…yeah." Jou reddened. "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"For not being more, y'know, experienced."

Seto hesitated for a moment, before saying, "That's nothing to apologise for. And, just so you know…I've never done this either."

Jou's eyes widened in surprise. "You haven't? So – this will be – "

"My first time, yes."

He relaxed and smiled as well. "Then I guess this is kind of a big thing."

"Mhm." Seto kissed Jou on the sensitive skin just below the ear, causing him to moan suddenly.

"Damn…you're pretty good at this, you know."

"Mhm," Seto repeated. He couldn't exactly speak properly when his mouth was this occupied.

Jou wasn't thinking very coherently any more. All he knew was that he wanted to be as close to Seto as possible – mind, body, soul, to complete the cliché. Almost independent of the rest of his body, his hands pulled at the elastic of the brunette's boxers, inching them slowly down.

Once Seto was before him, now completely naked, Jou couldn't help but stare at his body. Seto was – how else could he possibly put it? – _gorgeous_. There wasn't a single mar on his skin, his intense eyes were fixated on Jou almost in a seductive manner, and he was just, well, naturally beautiful. _Why_ did Jou used to hate him?

Jou's boxers joined Seto's on the floor soon after, and Jou wasn't the only one left feeling as though he was seeing perfection. In some respects, the two teens were more alike than even they cared to admit, and somewhere deep down those similarities had attracted them to one another; in other respects, they were polar opposites, attracted because of their differences.

Both of them, though being completely different people, could honestly say that they thought the other one was exactly what they wanted.

"Jou…" Seto said softly. Jou looked at him questioningly. "Are you nervous?"

Jou didn't even pause before shaking his head. "I trust you enough not to be."

Again, Seto gave that easy smile that spread so naturally over his features. "Thank you." He looked serious for a moment. "I know enough about how this works to know that it's not painless. But tell me if I hurt you too much."

Jou nodded, understanding, but he wasn't lying when he said he trusted Seto enough not to be nervous. He knew a little about what went on in sex as well, so he knew that what Seto said was true.

Seto knew that to make this easiest for Jou, he would need some form of lubrication. That wasn't something that he just happened to have lying around the house. He grabbed the next best thing: a small jar of hand lotion on his bedside table. He unscrewed the lid and dipped three of his fingers into the semi-set liquid, liberally coating them. Once he had enough, he moved his hand around to the small of Jou's back, then very slowly lowered it from there towards his target.

Jou hissed when the cold moisture on Seto's fingers brushed against his entrance, but he braced himself. Seto took his time, easing one finger inside him at a time until all three were stretching him; preparing him for what was to come. Jou squirmed, uncomfortable, but not yet in any real pain.

When he felt Jou was ready, Seto whispered, "Ready?"

Jou just nodded. Ready? He had never been more ready for anything in his life.

Seto withdrew his fingers and used the lotion that still covered them to coat his arousal, before positioning himself at Jou's entrance. Gingerly, he pushed himself forward.

"S – s – _shit!"_ Jou screamed, screwing his eyes shut. Pain; pleasure; pain. He felt both, but unfortunately the pain was winning out. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down, but they came out more as gasps. 

Seto winced; he could see this was hurting Jou, as they both knew it would, but it was hard to watch without feeling some sort of guilt – _he_ wasn't feeling anything besides pure ecstasy at the moment.

"That's it, you're okay…keep breathing…look at me."

Jou complied, tentatively opening his eyes to meet Seto's. When they did, he instantly felt his body relax and get used to the sensation. The pain was subsiding slightly…it was actually starting to feel good…

"Seto," he breathed. "Move."

Slightly surprised at Jou's forwardness, but certainly not complaining, Seto did.

If Jou had thought perfection was just staring at Seto, then this was beyond worldly perfection. It was an indescribable feeling to have both of them together, wanting each other, taking each other…they couldn't possibly ask for any more.

How long this lasted, neither knew nor cared. Their lovemaking could have gone for minutes, hours – they were oblivious to everything except each other. Finally, in the last moments of passion, Seto climaxed violently, his seed spilling inside of Jou, inciting the blonde to do the same, coming over their torsos. Seto nearly collapsed on top of his lover in exhaustion, moving off him just before he fell onto the mattress.

"Th – thank you," he gasped, before his eyes flickered shut, his energy spent.

Jou could feel sleep claiming him too, but before it did he shifted right up next to Seto, holding him closely, feeling his warmth.

"You too, Seto," he yawned. And he drifted off.

* * *

Phew…all I can say is, finally. FINALLY! I MADE YOU WAIT TWO MONTHS, BUT THIS CHAPTER IS DONE!

Not the story. There's still more story. Plenty more story. But the chapter is here!

You know the drill…review button's there, it doesn't take much out of your life…


	19. And The Morning Comes

Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Hikari M666 (formerly D W-K)

Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to Lucy, whom I know has read this far, disgust or no disgust at yaoi Hello Lucy, drop a review some time!

Disclaimer: Take a wild guess.

It's holidays. It's one in the morning. I'm going to see how many chapters of this I can get done these holidays, though I'm also trying to do about three more stories as well. Let's see how I go, ey?

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Ch. 19: And The Morning Comes

It was Seto who woke first. As he did every morning before opening his eyes, he went through his self-questioning.

_Who am I?_

Seto Kaiba, eighteen.

He no longer included his business title in that category. For now he was just Seto; he could be CEO of Kaiba Corp. later.

_What day is it?_

Hmm…was it Wednesday? Thursday? Or perhaps it was the weekend…no, wait, it was definitely Thursday. He wasn't keeping everything to tight schedule any more. not lagging behind, of course, but for now just knowing that he should get up was enough.

_Anything unusual?_

Plenty of things, come to think of it. It was far too bright outside to be early morning. But if he had overslept then Mokuba would have come bursting in by now. Actually, he couldn't even hear Mokuba's TV downstairs with the volume three times too loud. Why not?

Something stirred in his memory; that's right, Mokuba had stayed at a friend's place last night.

_Why the hell did I let him do that?_

Seto put it down to a good mood. He was allowed to be in a good mood now and then. And he put his good mood down to…

"Seto."

Ah, of course. Katsuya Jounouchi.

Seto blinked once, twice, getting used to the sunlight. Then he turned on his side to face the blonde next to him. "Jou?" he murmured.

Jou had said his name, but still looked asleep. He was resting on his stomach, arms supporting his head, hair messy and half-covering his eyes. His mouth was closed and his breathing was deep.

Seto frowned slightly. He knew Jou had said his name.

"Jou?" he tried again.

Jou rolled onto his back. "Seto…"

Sleep talking.

Rolling his eyes, Seto stretched and pushed himself into sitting position. He looked at the clock: ten past ten.

"Shit," he groaned. This was going to cause some problems. True, it wasn't as if he'd never missed school before, but he had only done so with good reason. Having one's boyfriend over didn't qualify as a good reason. "Jou. Up. Now."

Typically, Jou ignored him and began to snore.

_Honestly_, Seto thought as he grabbed Jou's shoulders and shook him roughly.

Jou was taken by surprise, and made it quite evident that he was now awake.

"AAGH!" he screamed, jumping up and swinging his arms, almost hitting Seto in the face. Then, after a moment, he realised where he was. "Damn…you scared me!"

Seto shrugged; there was no point saying sorry when he wasn't. "We're late."

"Late?" Jou repeated, confused.

"For school."

He still looked blank. "You woke me up for _school?_"

"Puppy!" Seto scrambled (if it could be called scrambling. Everything he did seemed unnaturally yet gracefully controlled) out of bed and went straight to his walk-in wardrobe, emerging with a fresh uniform in hand. Then he began rummaging through his dresser drawers. Jou, meanwhile, was still wrapped in sheets, and was looking fixedly at Seto. "What? Why are you staring?"

Jou couldn't keep the grin from spreading over his face. "Kinda hard not to stare when you're walking around like that."

"Walking around like wha- oh, shut up." Seto just realised that he wasn't wearing anything. Not that he was surprised, he just hadn't noticed.

Jou shrugged, still smiling. "Hey, I'm not complaining." And who in their right mind would be?

Seto chose to ignore that comment. "Just get up and get ready."

"Why bother?" Jou asked. "We'd only get busted for being late."

Seto was still going through his drawers, but he seemed to have forgotten that he actually had a purpose for doing so. He had cast aside practically every piece of clothing in the drawers without so much as looking at them, such was the extent of his distraction.

"So what are you suggesting?" he asked.

"Just skip."

Still rummaging pointlessly through his clothes, Seto snorted. "Yeah. Right." Jou raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously. Let's just skip," he repeated.

Seto finally stopped his actions, the drawers looking very dishevelled. He was frowning. "We can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because – it's – " It was a very rare occasion when Seto Kaiba had no words.

"Relax. I've done it plenty of times. It doesn't mean anything," Jou assured. Seto didn't move, he was frozen there with a calculating look on his face. "Come on."

After a very long pause, Seto closed the drawers and tossed his uniform on the end of the bed. Narrowing his eyes at Jou, he said, "You're rubbing off on me."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jou grinned.

"Isn't it?"

Seto smirked before withdrawing back into the walk-in wardrobe, leaving Jou alone in the main part of the room. After debating with himself whether or not it was worth moving. Jou pushed down the sheets and got up, picking up off the floor whatever clothes of his he could find. He felt a little embarrassed knowing that Seto was changing into what was no doubt an expensive, pristine outfit, whilst he had to make do with what he was wearing yesterday.

But it seemed that Seto was prepared for everything. When he came back from the wardrobe, not only was he immaculately dressed, but he was holding another set of clothes.

"You think I'd force you to wear that for another day? This is something old of mine, so it should fit you." He handed them to Jou, who looked disbelieving. "What's the matter?"

Jou shook his head. "Nothing. Thanks, Seto." He accepted the outfit. Even his own parents had never let him so much as touch clothes like these, which really brought home to him just how genuinely nice Seto was beneath the often-cold exterior. Jou had somehow broken through that exterior and released a part of Seto that he hadn't previously known existed, and in doing so had paved the way for the past week of life changing experiences.

And speaking of experiences…

"Er – Seto?" he said hesitantly.

Seto stared at him intently. "Yes?"

Jou was undoubtedly blushing. "Er…last night. I – I just – " He paused, not really knowing how to say what he wanted to say.

Luckily, Seto saved him the trouble. "Don't say anything because you feel obliged. It doesn't need words if you don't want it to."

Jou, though surprised by Seto's near-poetic response, said, "No, I do wanna say something. It's just – hard – to say."

Seto shrugged. "Give it a shot then."

"I – I thought last night was…" No words indeed. Jou couldn't think of a single one that accurately measured the happiness he felt. Instead, he smiled sheepishly. "Well, you get what I'm trying to say."

"I think I do," Seto said, a ghost of his old smirk appearing, though not as superior and daunting as it once was. "And I agree. Of course."

Some time later, the two found themselves in the living room on the couch, Seto half-lying, half-sitting and Jou resting with his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. They had taken their time getting downstairs and eating, surprisingly not because they were too tired or too busy fooling around, but because the time spent doing the most simple things seemed so much more valuable when they were together. They didn't have to be doing anything to enjoy each other.

The TV wasn't even on. They were just lying there, never once considering that it was a waste of time.

"Seto," Jou said eventually, breaking the comfortable silence. His tone was that of someone who had just spent a great deal of time thinking.

"Mm?"

"You know what I want to do one day?" he said thoughtfully.

"What's that?"

"See you at work."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"

Jou gave a noncommital shrug. "I dunno, it's just something I want to do. Maybe because I'd want to see what you've done for your whole life. Maybe because I want to see what it is that's made you so rich. Just – I dunno, it's a part of you, right? So I want to know it." Seto gave him a funny look. "I know, kinda stupid-sounding, but – "

"It's not stupid-sounding," Seto interrupted softly. "I can't say I've ever heard anybody say something like that."

"Really?" Jou said, a bit surprised at Seto's reaction.

"And of all people to say it, I never would have guessed it would be _you_."

"Yeah, well, I guess we've found out lots of stuff about each other that we'd never have guessed, right?" Jou smiled.

Seto chuckled. "I suppose we have." Then, he unexpectedly grabbed Jou's chin and tilted his head up, bringing him in for a kiss.

Jou's eyes closed instinctively as he kissed back. It was amazing, the feeling that Seto gave him. It was always strong, but even more so when kissing – and at its most last night. He couldn't understand it.

When they separated, both wearing satisfied smiles, Seto spoke again. "You know, if seeing me at work is what you'd really want to do, I could arrange it today."

"Really? You could?" Jou's eyes lit up like a small child's. He had been telling the truth when he said that he wanted to see this part of Seto's life because it was a part of Seto, and he could only begin to comprehend why it suddenly felt so important to him. "We could go to your work today?"

Seto nodded. "It's not as though it will be difficult."

Jou grinned. "Can we go now?"

Smiling back, Seto slowly stood up, bringing Jou up with him. He alerted his chauffeur immediately and it wasn't long before the couple were on their way to Kaiba Corp.

* * *

Unless you have Purple-button-o-phobia, it won't kill you to leave a review. Come on, you know you want to. 


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